UPDATE APPEARS AT END OF ARTICLE

It was Saturday, July 21, 2007 just a few minutes before 5pm and I was at the DuPont Library with my family so my son could get a Superman book.  There were about a dozen other people in the library, including the kind people that work there who will help you find just about anything that you need, well almost anything.

A man walks into the library, approaches the counter, and asks one of the ladies at the counter "Excuse me, is there a grocery store nearby?"  Immediately everyone in the library begins laughing and this poor man passing through DuPont, who only wanted to find a grocery store probably to find some small item, turns and looks around the library and feels embarrassed as though he said something wrong.

People started to inform the gentleman that there was no grocery store in the DuPont area, except for the store at Union 76.  He wanted of course a more larger store, so we all helped him with directions to the local Safeway down in Lacey, or to the ones located up north in Lakewood.

How much longer must the residents of DuPont go without some sort of basic grocery store? Our town has been hearing promises of a grocery store for over a decade now and still nothing has come.  A Chevron station on the corner of McNeil and Center Drive will also have a small convenience store, but residents want access to real foods, healthy foods, not just snack foods!

When I was in Lakewood at the Safeway there in Lakewood Towne Center last week, I was standing in the produce section and looked up actually at the ceiling and over the aisles to the other side of the store.  There are places where a store this size will fit in DuPont, but one of the landowners has to have room for a 30,000 sq foot facility and those lots are very few.   Remember it's not just the store size, but a parking lot to support it is needed too.

Back at the library, after the gentleman had directions to Safeway in Lacey, a woman was speaking to me and my wife about Trader Joe's and how she heard a rumor that they were coming.  Of course I had to dispel her of that rumor, but what she told us was the reason for this article.  WE THE RESIDENTS OF DUPONT CAN DO OUR PART TO BRING TRADER JOE'S HERE!!!!

UPDATE 7/25: I received an email from Marsha M. who told me in a 7/23 email that she had actually sent out an email "to all my friends and local business associates a couple weeks ago requesting assistance in getting TJ's here."  I want to note that I was not a recipient of that email or any other message from her about these efforts.  It was the lady (who I did not get her name) at the DuPont Library who told me this information and I just used my resources to get the word out to the masses.  I sent an email reply back to Marsha the same day asking if she was this same lady, but she has not replied yet. This story is gaining steam and if it turns into something more, Marsha will also be contacted. If the lady who was at the DuPont Library that day is also reading this, please come forward too so you can get your well deserved credit.

Impossible you say? Not really!  In fact Trader Joe's has made it very easy to let them know that you want their private company to open a store in our location!  How do you do that? Well that too is easy!!!

DuPontWA.com is very pleased to spearhead this drive to let Trader Joe's know WE WANT THEM HERE!!!

I urge you to take a few minutes to click the link below that will take you directly to the link on Trader Joe's website to let them know you want a location in DuPont, WA!   Do it now, it only takes about a minute to fill it out and submit it!  Then let everyone in DuPont know about this effort! Tell them to come to this website and find the link off the home page and fill-out the form.

I will continue to contact Trader Joe's and check on the progress of our submission on the possibilities of bringing their store to our unique town.

CLICK HERE TO COMPLETE THE FORM TO TELL TRADER JOE'S TO COME TO DUPONT, WA!

Hopefully soon the next person that comes into DuPont for the very first time and asks where a local grocery store is, we can tell them Trader Joe's, because I'm tired of seeing money that could have come into DuPont go elsewhere.

Check out the products that they sell here.
Overall what they sell here.

UPDATE: 8/24/2007
I waited just over a month since posting the above story to make my first follow-up call with Trader Joe's.  I was able to speak with the actual person who decides where future locations of their stores go and was very thankful that he talked with me on the phone for a few minutes to help me understand their process.

He normally receives a quarterly report from all inquries for future locations that come in from phone calls, comment cards and of course the website.   After the list is compiled, research then begins on the suggested locations.   Part of the criteria they use to determine new locations is population density, distance from other Trader Joe's stores and of course the local grocery shopping availability already in the area. 

Needless to say, DuPont would not qualify for a location according to him because they look for population densities of at least 100,000 residents to serve that location.   However, Olympia is on their "radar" for a location, but he could not specify when as they normally plan out the actual locations over a two to three year period.

Thank you to everyone who did go online to their website and suggest DuPont, WA as a location.  I will check back in about another month to see how many people suggested to Trader Joe's to come here and forward the results to the landowners in the area so they see that we are serious about wanting some form of a grocery store here in our town.