Trader Joe’s? No But Others on Wish List Could Come

By Cathy Jett, The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Va.

Jan. 18–Eleya Frields laments not having a Trader Joe’s in Fredericksburg when she shops for healthy, organic food for her family.

The Stafford County mom says area grocery stores have only small selections of the pesticide-free fruits and vegetables she’d prefer to buy for daughter Evie, 5, and Ethan, 3.

“I really miss the wide-open choices of Trader Joe’s, especially the things you can buy in bulk,” said Frields, who used to shop there when she lived in Fairfax. “At Giant or Ukrop’s, it seems like they’re in tiny packages and they’re so expensive.”

She isn’t alone in her desire to see a Trader Joe’s open in the Fredericksburg area. The national chain known for its private-label products and “Two Buck Chuck” wines was the No. 1 business that readers of The Free Lance-Star say they’d like to see here.

Nearly 90 people responded to the newspaper’s annual request for a “wish list.” Besides Trader Joe’s, they were interested in such grocery stores as Wegmans, Whole Foods and Harris Teeter; and national retailers as Crate & Barrel, Pottery Barn and Stein Mart.

They also told us they want more places to eat, ranging from such sit-down chains as The Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang’s China Bistro to quick-serve places such as Taco Bell and TCBY. Some also said they’d prefer to see more home-grown restaurants, including some that serve local produce and locally made products such as cheese and wine.

“Our area has so much to be proud of, local talents from chefs to artists,” wrote S. McDonnell of Spotsylvania County. “Let our own community shine rather than the standard every-other-block-has-one cookie cutter business!”

But will any of these businesses actually decide to build here?

A Trader Joe’s, unfortunately, doesn’t appear to be on the horizon.

“At this time, Fredericksburg is not in our two-year plan,” said spokeswoman Alison Mochizuki.

And don’t hold your breath for a Crate & Barrel either. Spokeswoman Betty Kahn said that chain opens only six stores a year, and Fredericksburg is probably too close to its stores in Richmond and Arlington to make opening one here profitable.

“We get requests from so many of the big cities that we’re not in yet,” she said. “We’re not even in the whole state of Iowa.”

Chances are a little better, however, that No. 3 ranked The Cheesecake Factory could open here, according to spokesman Howard Gordon. He said he doesn’t know of any plans to locate in the region, but the chain known for its 200 menu items including mouth-watering cheesecakes is looking for for new sites across the country.

“Fredericksburg is a very fast-growing area,” he said. “I’ll make sure our real estate people know [the wish list results.]“

Area residents looking for other retailers and restaurants similar to those they’d find in Short Pump Town Center in Richmond or Tysons Corner Center in McLean need not lose heart. Many of those types of chains are starting to take a look here, developers say.

“We finally have a lot of these types of tenants’ attention,” said Dawn Hoover, Silver Cos. vice president for commercial sales and leasing. “Market research supports that this area can support some of these businesses. The time is right, and we have had conversations with many of the tenants [readers] named.”

Some restaurants readers would like to see already are on the way. Famous Dave’s, which has more than 120 barbecue restaurants in about 30 states, will open this summer in Cosner’s Corner. And Mimi’s Cafe–a chain serving breakfast, lunch and dinner–is about to ink a deal to locate there as well.

“They picked Cosner’s Corner because it’s midway between Richmond and D.C. and they loved the dynamics of the tenant mix,” Hoover said of Mimi’s.

Other possibilities include Ann Taylor, Barnes & Noble, la Madeleine Bakery, Cafe & Bistro and On the Border, a Mexican restaurant chain, she said.

J.J. Cafaro, executive vice president of the company that owns Spotsylvania Towne Centre, said the businesses readers are wishing to see in the Fredericksburg area doesn’t surprise him. Cafaro Co. has been talking with a number of them about locating in the lifestyle center it is building behind the mall.

Plans also call for a “higher-end” grocery store to be built on the property behind the mall.

“We’re looking at a year after the lifestyle center opens, which will probably be in the fall of 2008,” he said.

Southpoint II in Massaponax also will be getting some higher-end chains in a 40-acre parcel next to I-95 that will be called Park Place, said William Vakos III, vice president of W.J. Vakos.

“Hopefully, late this spring, we’ll be making announcements about two to three new anchor stores there that will be upscale,” he said.

As for more home-grown businesses, Vakos said his company is talking with some in downtown Fredericksburg about opening second locations in Courthouse Village, a planned residential and commercial development at Spotsylvania Courthouse.

“It will be designed for those kinds of small shops,” Vakos said. “Local establishments, that’s the kind of thing we want out there.”

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