In a very happy case of we told you so, Trader Joe’s now confirms it is going to open at Bradley Fair on Oct. 11.
Last month, sources told Have You Heard? it looked like it would be more like October when the doors open. Previously, a Trader Joe’s spokeswoman said the store would open by the end of the year.
A few minutes before 9 a.m. on Oct. 11, there will be a ribbon cutting, and then there will be a grand opening celebration with giveaways, food and activities for kids.
In April, Have You Heard? first reported that the much-requested California grocery chain is “taking the necessary steps” to open in the former Fresh Market space at Bradley Fair.
The new store will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
The interior will have murals celebrating Wichita, including its Air Capital status.
For years, Wichitans have been traveling to shop at Trader Joe’s in Leawood and surrounding states.
The company’s Two Buck Chuck wine is universally popular — and will not immediately be available here due to Kansas liquor laws — but other must-have items vary from person to person.
That includes 19-cent bananas, chocolate bars, cherry juice, coconut oil packets for traveling, fancy cocktail cherries, cranberry orange biscotti, triple ginger cookies, Marcona almonds with rosemary, “crack” cheddar cheese and Kalamata olive oil among many other things.
From a distribution standpoint, a Wichita Trader Joe’s makes sense. It’s in the middle of a sea of stores the company has in Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas.
The chain opened in California in 1967 and calls itself a neighborhood grocery store.
There now are almost 500 Trader Joe’s stores in 41 states and Washington, D.C.