Reader: Trader Joe's at Eighth and Colorado is all kinds of wrong

On Friday the Denver Business Journal broke the news that Trader Joe's would be opening its second store at Eighth and Colorado Boulevard. (The first -- which means the one that also gets to sell liquor under Colorado's convoluted code -- will debut next year in Boulder's Twenty Ninth Street...

By Patricia Calhoun

May 7, 2012

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On Friday the Denver Business Journal broke the news that Trader Joe's would be opening its second store at Eighth and Colorado Boulevard. (The first -- which means the one that also gets to sell liquor under Colorado's convoluted code -- will debut next year in Boulder's Twenty Ninth Street development, in the spot currently occupied by Applebee's.)

The news was meant with general jubilation...and some skepticism.

Says Absolute1:

This is all kinds of wrong.

The location has NOWHERE near enough parking to support the kind of traffic TJ's will draw. As the first Denver store, it will generate lots of interest, even if only from the looky-loo" crowd. Eighth Ave is far too narrow a street to support this, and the 8th/CO Blvd intersection is already a badly congested one. The surrounding neighborhood will suffer.

Mark my words - I'm a TJ's veteran since childhood, have seen this countless times in other cities/states. If there are to be more of them, they should occupy vacant shopping center spaces with PLENTY of parking - like the many abandoned Albertsons sites around town, for example.

How do you think a Trader Joe's will do at Eighth and Colorado? Where would you rather see it?

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Patricia Calhoun is editor-in-chief of Westword, the alt-weekly she co-founded in September 1977. She’s been inducted into the Colorado Press Association Hall of Fame, the Association of Alternative Newsmedia Hall of Fame and the Colorado Restaurant Association Hall of Fame. She’s also received dozens of local, state and national awards for writing, including first place for feature writing and first place for column writing with the Society of Professional Journalists. Patricia is a weekly commentator on Colorado Inside Out, PBS 12's public affairs roundtable, which has won two Emmys.

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