Trader Joe’s to open Southlake store on Friday

As workers have been setting up the new Trader Joe’s in recent weeks, many curious people have had to be turned away. So store captain Jerimy Krepps said he cannot wait to invite those potential customers inside when the new store at Southlake Town Square opens at 8 a.m. Friday.

At about 10,000 square feet, Trader Joe’s is smaller than other supermarkets, but Krepps said that’s by design.

“It’s smaller but we pack a lot of stuff inside,” he said. “You walk in and it feels like the neighborhood market.”

The walls feature murals of Southlake scenes including the high school drill team, the Carroll Emerald Belles.

The store boasts a collection of 3,000 private-label items that make up 80 percent of its goods, many with no artificial flavoring or preservatives. If an item store officials like has ingredients they don’t agree with, they’ll adjust the recipe, he said.

Trader Joe’s enters a competitive market, with Central Market across Southlake Boulevard and the Fresh Market having opened a block away last month. There is also a Sprouts grocery farther down the road and a Whole Foods Market in Colleyville.

Krepps said unique items make Trader Joe’s a destination for people who want something they can’t find anywhere else like cookie butter, displayed near the front door. He pointed out other items including soy chorizo, pita crackers, snickerdoodle cookies, ginger snaps and the chain’s famous wine for $2.99 a bottle.

Krepps said he sees the store in competition with itself and hopes the addition of another grocer will increase “the grocery pie.”

Shannon Hamons, Southlake’s economic development director, echoed Krepps’ sentiment and said he believes all of the city’s grocery stores complement one another.

“It seems like we have completed a well-rounded offering,” he said. “A shopper is going to come here because they have all four options and that raises the tide.”

Southlake is Trader Joe’s second Tarrant County location; it opened a store in Fort Worth in 2012.

The two-story store is at the southeast corner of Southlake Town Square near the brownstone residences. Most shopping activity takes place on the second level.

This story was originally published February 18, 2015 at 5:31 PM with the headline "Trader Joe’s to open Southlake store on Friday."