Trader Joe's confirms it will be opening a Providence location this year
PROVIDENCE — Nicolas Heliotis was walking his dog Jasper toward Wickenden Street Wednesday afternoon when he heard the news that long-standing rumors were true: Trader Joe's will open a store in his neighborhood sometime this year.
Heliotis, a graduate student of philosophy at Brown University, doesn't drive, so the new store will shave his current one-mile, 20-minute walk for groceries down to a couple of minutes.
"I walk all the way over to East Side Market right now," he said. "I just go to whatever grocery store's around."
Trader Joe's, a California-based nationwide chain, announced Tuesday on its website that it will open the store at 425 South Main St. sometime in 2022, but wasn't more specific on the date.
It is the second grocery to announce it is coming to the downtown area, following the much smaller Cape Cod-based Rory's Kitchen and Market, which will open its third store next month on Washington Street at the corner of Mathewson Street.
From Cape Cod to downtown Providence: Rory's Market and Kitchen to make first urban spot
"At Trader Joe's Providence, we see ourselves as your neighborhood grocery store. Step inside and you'll find unconventional and interesting products ... as well as everyday basics like milk, eggs and fresh produce," the chain wrote on its website.
The store promises "delicious, quality products at the very best prices."
The announcement said, "We are proud to be joining the neighborhood, and to continue our commitment to providing nourishment to the surrounding communities through our Neighborhood Shares program."
The Providence store would be the second Trader Joe's in Rhode Island, joining one on Bald Hill Road in Warwick.
It would be near the corner of South Main and Wickenden streets, in a multi-use building being built on land freed up by the relocation of Route 195.
Plans presented in 2019 to the commission overseeing redevelopment of the highway called for a 13,000-square-foot grocery store that was not identified at that time. Those plans show a parking lot with a couple of dozen spaces surround by the store and buildings along Wickenden and South Water Streets.
A spokeswoman for Trader Joe's on Wednesday declined to provide more information.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence Trader Joe's opening at 425 South Main St.
