Trader Joe’s drops anchor in Costa Mesa with Harbor Boulevard store, city’s second
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Shoppers queued at a storefront on Costa Mesa’s Harbor Boulevard on Thursday, hoping to be the first to get their hands on salads and snacks such as unexpected cheddar and peanut-butter-filled pretzel nuggets, during the Trader Joe’s grand opening.
A 9,541-square-foot anchor business of a commercial plaza located at the intersection of Harbor and Victoria Street, the new market is the second inside city limits and one that’s been highly anticipated, according to posts circulating among local social media outlets in recent weeks.
Just before the doors opened at 9 a.m., store employees and managers gathered for a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the occasion. To help man the registers and stock shelves on opening day and beyond, the corporation hired new crew members from surrounding areas and transferred in others from nearby Trader Joe’s stores.
The Monrovia-based company first hung its shingle in Costa Mesa nearly three decades ago, opening in 1996 and relocating to 640 W. 17th St. soon after. That building formerly housed the Empire Ballroom, a popular nightclub in the 1990s.
Earlier this year, Trader Joe’s acquired the 20,000-square-foot store from a private seller for $28.6 million, or $1,435 per square foot, according to LA Times Studios.
The new island-themed grocery store on Harbor Boulevard replaces a 99 Cents Only store that closed in April 2024 — one of 371 locations shuttered amid a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filed by its parent company, the Los Angeles Times reported last year.
As a part of a company-wide Neighborhood Shares initiative, the Costa Mesa Trader Joe’s plans to donate 100% of its perishable food items that go unsold but remain fit to enjoy to a range of non-profit, community-based organizations, seven days a week, according to a news release issued Wednesday.
