Trader Joe’s to Add Up to 15 Stores in West

After an aggressive East Coast expansion, Trader Joe’s Co.--the quirky food retailer that stocks everything from vegetarian black bean chili to French feta cheese--will open as many as 15 new stores in the Western U.S., primarily in California.

The South Pasadena-based chain has nearly doubled in size during the last five years and now operates about 120 stores, 80 of them in California. Much of the growth has taken place on the East Coast--where the chain operates 21 stores--and in other Western states, including Arizona, Oregon, Nevada and Washington.

The renewed focus on the West and California is certain to please the many shopping center developers and community leaders who have wooed Trader Joe’s with tax breaks, prized locations and widespread popular support.

“They are very much sought after,” said Brent Howell, a retail leasing specialist at real estate brokerage CB Richard Ellis. “They bring in a younger, more gourmet kind of customer.”

Company executives were recently flooded with postcards from the residents of one California town urging Trader Joe’s to open up a local outlet, according to Kevin Deighan, a Los Angeles broker who handles store leasing. The postcards--which were distributed to residents in their monthly gas bill--were part of a campaign by city officials to attract the chain’s attention. Deighan said Trader Joe’s is now negotiating with the city, which he would not identify.

Deighan said the company is also in negotiations to open stores in Temecula, Cerritos and Laguna Niguel.