PORTLAND, Ore. (PORTLAND TRIBUNE) — After months of speculation about a new Trader Joe’s grocery store coming to the former Garden Home Thriftway site, the company has confirmed its plans to open a store in Southwest Portland.
“We are very interested in bringing a store to Southwest Portland and are taking the necessary steps to make it happen,” said Erin Baker, a spokesperson for Trader Joe’s Company. “There are a number of things that need to happen before the store is confirmed.”
A liquor license application was recently posted in the window of the former Garden Home Thriftway store on Southwest Oleson Road in the Garden Home Marketplace Plaza. The notice lists “Trader Joe’s Company” as the applicant.
News of the liquor license was first reported by the Portland Business Journal earlier this month.
The former Thriftway site is likely to be split between two tenants. Documents on file with Portland’s planning department indicate one of those will likely be a grocery store. Site renderings show an Ace Hardware store, but additional tenants for the site could not be confirmed by The Connection.
The former Lamb’s Garden Home Thriftway store shuttered in fall 2019 and the shopping plaza’s largest building has been vacant since then.
The windows of the building are now covered with paper and signs indicate renovations are underway.