Trader Joe’s, other businesses coming to Murfreesboro amid rapid growth
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) — Those in Rutherford County looking for the nearest Trader Joe’s used to have to travel to Franklin or Nashville, but that drive is officially getting a lot shorter.
On Friday, Jan. 19, Mayor Shane McFarland announced a new Trader Joe’s will be coming to the City of Murfreesboro.
“It was pretty exciting,” said resident Aleia Hingst. “It made us feel like we’re a real town now. It’s like, ‘Okay, we have a Trader Joe’. We’re pretty cool.'”
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Hingst isn’t the only person excited about the news.
“I’ve wanted to scream it from a rooftop for months now, but I haven’t been able to,” said Jami Averwater.
Averwater is part of Murfreesboro’s City Council and said the city and officials with Trader Joe’s have been working on this for the last year.
“It was hard to keep it a secret, but we also don’t ever want to let the cat out of the bag too early before everything is final,” she said.
Paul Latture, president of the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, said the growth hitting Murfreesboro continues to impact other cities across the county.
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“With our population growth throughout the whole county, obviously we are starting to get the attention of retailers that we haven’t normally seen in the past,” he said. “So we’re excited about the new names that are coming in.”
According to documents from the planning commission, the Trader Joe’s will be located off Medical Center Parkway and Robert Rose Drive, but the good news does bring about concerns of more traffic to the area.
“Those are very valid concerns,” said Averwater. “I will say the good thing about a Trader Joe’s or some sort of commercial development like that is it doesn’t bring the type of traffic that people think of when they think development.”
With big names like Main Event Entertainment and Bucee’s coming to the area, Averwater said the city council is working to plan and prepare for the growth.
“We can’t stop it,” she said. “We shouldn’t stop it because growth is incredible for our tax base. It’s incredible for our home values. There’s so many benefits to growth.”
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It’s benefits residents like Hingst said they are thrilled to see.
“I think that we have the capacity in Murfreesboro to be a big city,” she said. “So I think that all the growth is just going to bring more business to us, which is awesome.”
Averwater said they anticipate Trader Joe’s will open its doors sometime in 2025.
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