Is Matthews about to land its first Trader Joe’s? All signs are pointing that way

A specialty grocery chain is headed to Matthews.

On Monday night, Matthews Board of Commissioners approved elevation changes for a planned grocery store with a signage font that looks a lot like Trader Joe’s in sketch plans.

The plan shows a 13,500-square-foot grocer on about 4 acres in a stand-alone commercial building in the northeast part of Matthews Gateway development on East John Street. Although the grocer was not named, the illustration signage font is similar to Trader Joe’s. This would be the first Trader Joe’s in Matthews

“That’s an unusual font they’ve got going on there,” commissioner Renee Garner said.

“It’s very particular,” Rob Will, town senior planner and zoning administrator, replied.

Trader Joe’s, based in Monrovia, California, is a national chain of neighborhood grocery stores known for a large selection of organic and specialty items. Trader Joe’s has 13 stores in North Carolina, including three in Charlotte, according to the company’s website.

“We don’t have a location to confirm in Matthews,” Trader Joe’s spokeswoman Nakia Rohde told The Charlotte Observer on Tuesday.

Trader Joe’s opened its first store in 1967 in Pasadena, California, and now has 543 stores in the U.S.

Matthews Gateway is a nearly 64-acre mixed-used project on East John Street, off Interstate 485.

The tenant is focused on being a neighborhood specialty grocery store, Lat Purser of Charlotte-based Lat Purser & Associates told commissioners. The tenant wants a portion of the building height and front canopies lowered, and more glass windows added to the white brick and three white stucco wall panels.

Commissioners also discussed the possibility of murals, which Purser said the tenant is known for sometimes using local artists. That’s also a hallmark of Trader Joe’s, known for signature murals of local landscapes and history.

“It would be a landmark,” Purser said. The grocer also would be a catalyst for driving other interests in the Matthews Gateway development, he said.

The grocery project plans are still being finalized.

Observer news partner WSOC-TV first reported the news.

More grocery growth around Charlotte

The Matthews grocery store will join a heated competition to capture a piece of the $10.2 billion market share in the Charlotte region. There are 745 grocery stores in the region, up from 722 in 2020, according to sales tracking firm Chain Store Guide.

Several grocery stores are planning to open or have recently opened:

▪ In May, Mecklenburg County commissioners approved a $1.5 million for California-based grocer Spangler’s to build a 8,000-square-foot store at Kohler and Statesville avenues, north of uptown.

▪ In April, Rochester, N.Y.-based Wegmans confirmed it will make its Charlotte debut in two years with a 110,000-square-foot grocery store on the east side of Ballantyne in south Charlotte.

▪ In January, Winston-Salem-based grocer Lowes Foods opened a store on the southwest corner of Providence Road and Prescott Glenn Parkway at The Shops at Prescot Village. Lowes Foods plans to open three more shops in Concord, Kannapolis and Indian Land, S.C. The Concord store is expected to open in the fall, followed by the other sites over the next two years.

▪ In November, Phoenix-based specialty grocer Sprouts Farmers Market opened at 14124 Steele Creek Road in Steele Creek. It’s the chain’s second store in the Charlotte area after opening at 15121 Ballancroft Parkway in Ballantyne six years ago.

▪ Last year, Publix opened a 48,387-square-foot store at North Creek Village in Huntersville. The Florida-based grocer, with 26 stores in the Charlotte market, is planning to open at least six more stores.

A 48,000-square-foot Publix at Harris Farms Shopping Center, on the northwest corner of Coddle Creek Highway and Kistler Farm Road, in Mooresville, is expected to open this year.

A 55,000-square-foot store with a drive-thru and a proposed private drive at 11525 Carmel Commons should open early next year.

Construction for The Arboretum store at Providence and Pineville-Matthews roads will start by the end of this year or early next year.

Publix also has plans for a store at the 10 Tryon building on the corner of Tryon and Ninth streets in uptown; Clear Creek Crossings development on the corner of Albemarle and Rocky River Church roads; and The Colony on the corner of Sharon and Colony roads in SouthPark. No openings have been set for those stores.

▪ The West Boulevard Coalition will open Charlotte’s first cooperative grocery store, Three Sisters Market. The full-service grocery store will debut in an area that’s been without a traditional supermarket for over 30 years. It’s expected to open next year.