No to Trader Joes
By Adam Platt
An interesting urban drama has been playing out in the Wedge neighborhood of Minneapolis, home to The Wedge co-op, arguably the Midwest’s best food co-operative, and Hum’s Liquors, for whom similar plaudits are not warranted.
The issue revolves around a developer’s plan to bring national yuppie grocery legend Trader Joe’s to the stretch of Lyndale between 22nd and 24th Streets. Joe’s attracts big crowds wherever it goes, as evidenced by the ongoing difficulties in finding parking in the dedicated lot at its St. Louis Park store.
The Trader only opens where he can sell wine and therein lies the rub. Prohibition-era blue laws still in force require 2000 feet of separation (roughly four blocks) between all alcohol retailers; additional proximity restrictions to churches and schools often extend those boundaries past the half-mile mark. (Hum’s zone of monopoly extends well past the Joe’s site.)
So the developer went to the city to get a waiver, and the city said it would ask the Legislature. The Legislature, to the city’s chagrin, told Minneapolis it could waive the rules if it wanted to without state involvement. Now the city has to decide whether it wants to waive rarely touched blue laws to benefit an out-of-state company. Easy call for earnest liberal pols?
Not so much.
Apparently the powers that be want the Trader and are considering it, slowly. The Wedge and Hum’s are apoplectic. The Wedge because it cannot sell wine without adding an addition with a separate entrance (another blue law) and obtaining its own proximity waiver. Hum’s because it doesn’t want to see its geographic monopoly breached. (I’ve never heard a soul speak favorably of Hum’s wine selection.)
Because of the school/church stricture, these geographic monopolies have made it impossible for a new wine retailer to open in South Minneapolis without another one closing first. A friend and I considered opening a wine store in South Minny over a decade ago and couldn’t find a legal site in a viable neighborhood. I long ago gave that hobby horse up, but these laws still need to go.
Or the city could create a separate license for small scale retailers who do a majority of their business in wine, or allow such stores blanket waivers to the 2000-foot rule.
Would Trader Joe’s still come to the Wedge under those terms? Sure—it opened in St. Louis Park just a few steps from a wine store and a big liquor retailer.
But as things are presently constituted, the Wedge is right. You can’t give Trader Joe’s the right to sell something its immediate competitors can’t just because you think the new store would be a neighborhood asset. It’s less about local versus out-of-town businesses, family owned versus corporate, than it is a matter of a level competitive playing field.
On one hand, I’m pleased that the city of Minneapolis gets it enough to understand that vintage clothing, coffee shops, and tattoo parlors cannot alone underpin the city's retail base. But on another, I’m surprised it can’t see the basic unfairness in this—but not to Hum’s—it should have to compete for its trade. But to The Wedge.
I’m with The Wedge on this: No to Trader Joe’s until the
laws are changed. And let's change them quickly.
© 2008 MSP Communications, Inc. All rights reserved
Funny thing is, even though the Wedge claims it wanted to sell wine before, it never applied for the alcohol waiver (probably due to the fact it didn't have a separate entrance), so why are they so vocal when someone follows the procedures correctly? So they are for changing the rules, but only if it benefits them. I say having more choices and competition can only be a good thing for the consumer. The Wedge and Hums have enjoyed their legal monopoly for long enough.
Posted by: Mister on June 9, 2009 at 11:04 AM
Trader Joe's--yuppy?! It's about as yuppy as Walgreens.
Posted by: Allison on June 9, 2009 at 12:25 PM
Wedge has a clear position statement on Facebook:
"We're not asking for Trader Joe's to go away. We simply want the city to ask Trader Joe's to play by the same rules as the rest of Minneapolis's groceries. That, or the city needs to give EVERY grocery the same liquor license variance, and let us ALL sell beer and wine."
Posted by: ElizaCo-op on June 9, 2009 at 2:51 PM
Wait a second, TJ's has followed blue law by building separated wine grocery with separate entrance. And, speaking of grocers who sell wine have you ever been to Byerlys or Cub?
Frankly, these licenses are granted on a case by case basis within municipalities. They are, and some people might say necessarily so, a political issue. As slight point of digression it is amusing how people like to suggest that "being political" is an evil or that ones opponents are "political" while my position is ethical or practical or something other than political. In the world of politics (T-Paw) everything is political. In the world of mediation of commercial interests between competing parties, decisions are political. Giving huge tax breaks to your rich friends, Timmy, while raising fees, property taxes and starving the poor is political - could not get more political than that. End of digression.
However, cities, towns, counties, and incorporated municipalities have an specific interest in a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis for evaluating and granting commercial, retail, and food vendors licenses for selling liquor on-site and off-site. What's permissible in Saint Louis Park may not be in the urban core of Minneapolis regardless if it is Trader Joes, Wedge, Cub or Byerlys.
Posted by: Richard on June 10, 2009 at 10:43 AM
Doesn't Trader Joe's have a separate entrance for their wine/liquor store?? I think they do, I have not looked at the floor plans for the new location but the St. Louis Park store does.
I think it would be great to have an addition to the Lyndale ave. area.
Amy
Posted by: amy on June 10, 2009 at 12:46 PM
Yuppie? Trader Joes has never been yuppie. It's cheap and local, always has been. It is a basic store in Los Angles, like any other supermarket. Whole foods is yuppie. You can shop very cheaply @ TJ. That's the appeal.
Lots of trader Joes don't sell wine. NY and CT don't allow it for example.
This reminds me of the "unionize Starbucks" crowd. When a small company does well, suddenly people treat it as if it's a mega corp and evil.
Posted by: Sue on June 10, 2009 at 1:02 PM
As an immediate neighbor of the wedge I completely welcome Trader Joe's to the neighborhood. We need new jobs and more traffic for our existing businesses in the area. Someone has the nerve to develop a business in this economy and the Wedge and city want to stop that? Do not understate the fact that the developer asked the Wedge if they would like to have him push for them to have the same exception as Joe's and they said no. This is only about the Wedge keeping out competition so they can keep their ridiculous prices and see their profits to members continue to soar. Also, it would be interesting to learn about the forces behind how and why our city booze laws are the way they are.
Posted by: Rae on June 10, 2009 at 1:30 PM
As a long-time resident of the San Francisco Bay Area who has regularly shopped at the Trader Joe's in Emeryville as well as the one in Walnut Creek, I can attest that Trader Joe's is far from being a yuppy grocer. It's clientele skews many different age groups (young 20s in or just out of college; 30- and 40-somethings w/children; even hip seniors). What I enjoy about Trader Joe's is the atmosphere, the helpful attitude of its friendly employees, good selection of food and produce at reasonable prices -- and, perhaps, best of all the convenience of being able to choose from a nice selection of California and imported wines that are affordable.
As a plus for us in California, state law allows for beer and wine to be sold in grocery stores without any segregation or barriers. Hopefully, the day will come when Minnesotans who shop Trader Joe's will enjoy the same experience and convenience that we Californians enjoy.
Posted by: Michael Dickens on June 11, 2009 at 12:44 PM
TJ's is local??? Maybe in Cali. I don't know, but that seems unlikely. My big issue is with the amounts of processed foods they have there - the reason most of their stuff is cheap is because they're in the same class as the stuff that you get at McDonald's. Autolyzed yeast extract is just another name for MSG (most of the time; not to mention the other ingredients that are crap. Read the ingredient labels instead of buying into marketing hype.
Posted by: Caitlin on July 13, 2009 at 5:13 PM
these licenses are granted on a case by case basis within municipalities.so why are they so vocal when someone follows the procedures correctly?
Posted by: uggs on October 23, 2009 at 3:32 AM
trader joe's is owned by the same corporation that owns Aldi, the "german wal-mart". I would hardly describe that as 'local'. plus, the twin cities has the greatest number of co-op grocery stores in the nation for a large city -- bringing in trader joes all over the place will significantly impact the business that these small, vital co-ops receive. cheap doesn't always equal "good". paying for food what it is actually worth is essential to creating an economy that values the work that farmers and grocers do to get our food into the cart and then onto our tables.
Posted by: bursty on November 3, 2009 at 3:53 PM
As a long-time resident of the San Francisco Bay Area who has regularly shopped at the Trader Joe's in Emeryville as well as the one in Walnut Creek, I can attest that Trader Joe's is far from being a yuppy grocer. It's clientele skews many different age groups (young 20s in or just out of college; 30- and 40-somethings w/children; even hip seniors). What I enjoy about Trader Joe's is the atmosphere, the helpful attitude of its friendly employees, good selection of food and produce at reasonable prices -- and, perhaps, best of all the convenience of being able to choose from a nice selection of California and imported wines that are affordable.
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