March 9, 2024 (Santee) — Trader Joe’s, purveyor of its own Charles Shaw (formerly “Two Buck Chuck”) wine logo and gourmet food maker, said its next store will be at the former Best Buy location at 9680 Mission Gorge. This will be the chain’s 16th store in San Diego County.
In late December, the Monrovia-based supermarket chain had announced that Santee would be the location of a new store, as reported via ECM, but declined to elaborate. But a rumor leaked that the former Best Buy between Navy Federal Credit Union and Discount Tyre is the new address.
The company announced the opening of the new store on its website, but declined to say when the actual opening would take place. Not without delay, the company responded to a request for comment.
Workers have been at the old Best Buy for weeks renovating the former 30,000 square foot electronics store into 3 separate areas. Trader Joe’s occupies more than 15,000 square feet, but the owner of the parcel doesn’t say what the remaining area will contain.
Santee City Councilman Ronn Hall said the store’s displayed location isn’t a secret, but the company insisted on keeping it a secret for competitive reasons.
He said many citizens have been asking for years for a Trader Joe’s to open in Santee. The nearest store is at the Grossmont Center in La Mesa. The closest ones are in the College domain and in Poway.
Trader Joe’s was founded through a former pharmacy executive, Joe Coulombe, who started a small chain of convenience retail stores in 1958 in the Los Angeles domain called Pronto Markets. In 1967, he revamped the taste and offering of the product, as well as the name. Today, the company, owned by the same circle of relatives that owns the Aldi supermarket chain, has 569 outlets across the country and more than 50,000 employees. The same Wikipedia quote estimates the annual profit for 2020 at $16. 5 billion.
While many giant supermarkets would possibly sell more than 50,000 products, a typical Trader Joe’s only offers 4,000 items, many of which are manufactured through the same branded companies, but sold under Trader Joe’s personal labels.
Santee has worked to attract established national chains to his city, primarily in and around the Town Center Parkway mall. According to the city’s website, since 2019, 31 channels have been added. Newer ones include Popeyes, Chevrolet, and WoodSprings. suites, all under construction.