South Philadelphia’s already crowded grocery corridor is about to get a new heavyweight. Trader Joe’s has inked a lease to open its first store in South Philly, anchoring a new shopping center along the Delaware River waterfront.
The planned store will sit at 1505–25 S. Columbus Blvd. in Pennsport and would be the chain’s first location outside Center City. The deal would make it Trader Joe’s third Philadelphia outpost overall, according to the company’s own listings. Philadelphia Business Journal
Philadelphia Business Journal was first to report the lease, noting that Trader Joe’s will anchor a new retail project planned for the Columbus Boulevard parcel.
New York investor Ocean Block Capital recently bought the roughly four-acre site and is planning a grocery-anchored center, with the firm paying about $7.5 million for the land and weighing a 35,000 to 50,000 square foot retail build that could cost up to $25 million. Bisnow
The property sits across from a Giant supermarket and within roughly a half mile of an Acme, a Target and a Walmart, which means the new Trader Joe’s is stepping straight into one of the city’s busiest grocery battlegrounds. Ocean Block Capital managing partner Zach Weiss called the project “close to home” and said the firm is “intimately familiar” with both the site and the community it will affect. BUCKSCO.Today
What’s Coming And When
Industry coverage says the shopping center could be ready as soon as the second half of next year, with Trader Joe’s expected to take a sizeable footprint similar to its other urban stores. Potential additional tenants include restaurants, a fitness center and a bank, according to early plans. Bisnow
Why This Matters For Neighbors
For residents of Pennsport, Dickinson Narrows, Queen Village and Whitman, a Trader Joe’s on Columbus Boulevard would offer a nearby alternative to the big-box chains up and down the strip and the existing Center City locations. The lease adds to a growing wave of retail investment on the South Philadelphia waterfront, which observers say has been reshaped in recent years by new grocery, big-box and mixed-use projects. BUCKSCO.Today
Trader Joe’s currently operates two Philadelphia stores, at 1324 Arch St. and 2121 Market St., and the Columbus Boulevard lease would mark the chain’s first permanent outpost south of the core, according to the company’s store directory. Developers have not given a firm opening date, and trade coverage notes that more details should emerge as permits are filed and construction plans advance. Trader Joe’s store directory
