Amarillo Wants Trader Joe’s. Here’s Why It Hasn’t Happened

Ok, so we ask a lot of stores to come to Amarillo. H-E-B, always at the top of that list. Not far behind is Costco, and I think we just want a Costco for the amazing hot dog deal at their food court.

One of the other places I see mentioned a lot is Trader Joe's. I'd be all for it; I love Trader Joe's. We've even talked about how you can help request that they build one here. Unfortunately, our pleas have not been heard.

Why Doesn't Amarillo Have A Trader Joe's

For any store, there are a lot of factors and things they look at when it comes to building a new location in that particular city. No business wants to just jump into a city where they can't support the business. It's a recipe for disaster and will have them closing their doors quickly.

Trader Joe's, like any business, has a myriad of different things they look at and factors they take into consideration, and it seems that Amarillo simply isn't meeting these qualifications they've laid out.

What Does Trader Joe's Look At When Opening A New Location

One of the first things they look at is the demographics of the city. Trader Joe's tends to favor dense metropolitan areas with a high percentage of college-educated residents. Another thing they look at is the median income levels of the area.

Supply chain, a huge reason H-E-B hasn't entered Amarillo yet, is something else Trader Joe's looks at. Amarillo is pretty isolated from a lot of distribution places, and that is something that tends to hinder us when it comes to getting the businesses we want.

Another thing hurting us is that we have a very established local market. Between the United Supermarkets chain stores we have everywhere, as well as the number of Walmarts that sell groceries, Trader Joe's could be walking into a market that is already very saturated and tough to turn a profit.

Will We Ever Get A Trader Joe's

Well, that's the million-dollar question, isn't it? Based on the things Trader Joe's looks for, it makes it tough to see a path for them to ever enter Amarillo, but we are a growing city. The more we grow, the more we'll see.

The question is, will the growth ever be enough, or the right type of growth for Trader Joe's to come to Amarillo? I guess all we can do is keep flooding them with requests to open one here.