Shop Talk: Bring in Trader Joe's ... please!

PEMCO Insurance, a Seattle-based company, has been running "Northwest Profiles," vignettes on people who live in the Pacific Northwest. It comes with funny names such as "Walla Walla Wine Wine Woman Woman" and lists quirks about various Northwesterners.

With that in mind, I want to introduce Northwest Profile No. 509 -- the Yakima Valley Cooler-Trotting Trader Joe's shopper:

Spotted: At any Trader Joe's grocery store in the Seattle or Portland area. Or carrying Trader Joe's-brand reusable bags at the Yakima Farmers Market.

Diet: Flaxseed tortilla chips, dark chocolate soybeans and a $3 bottle of wine.

Vehicle: Toyota Prius. They want to save the Earth and their gasoline expenses.

A few times a month, these residents stuff their cars with reusable grocery bags and a big ol' cooler and head over to the Portland or Seattle area to one of the grocery store's many locations.

These folks may spend a little more on fuel for their cars, but the satisfaction of stocking a pantry with $1.99 cartons of organic tomato soup and "Three Buck Chuck" wine makes the long drive worth it.

In all seriousness, I've gotten a lot of questions in the last few months about whether the Yakima area could ever get a Trader Joe's. Some have told me it could be a good retail tenant for The Lofts development in downtown Yakima.

And they're not alone. I've seen Facebook groups, blogs and YouTube videos from fans across the country begging the California-based grocery store chain to build a store in their town.

Why do people make such a fuss about Trader Joe's? The store appeals to foodies who want to buy organic produce and exotic foods such as rice and bean chips from Japan and papaya chunks from Brazil, without completely emptying their wallets. (There's a reason that Whole Foods Market is known as "Whole Paycheck.")

Central to Trader Joe's pricing strategy is its decision to sell nearly all of its products under private labels. Other grocery stores sell private brands, but not at the capacity Trader Joe's does.

Trader Joe's also has lower overhead costs because its stores aren't as large as typical grocery stores and it doesn't spend any money on advertising.

Given the number of people I know and have met in the past few months who fit Northwest Profile No. 509, I think a Trader Joe's would be well-received here.

But one big challenge that the Valley would face is that Trader Joe's has historically opened in areas that are in a large metropolitan area or within a reasonable drive from one. A notable exception is the Trader Joe's in Bend, Ore., which is nowhere near the more-populated Portland metropolitan area.

It's probably safe to say that Yakima Valley shoppers will have to keep lugging those coolers.

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Elsewhere in the Shop Talk world:

* The annual conference of the International Council of Shopping Centers is this week in Las Vegas. It's one of the largest conferences for retailers around.

There will be some commercial real estate types showing off what the Yakima Valley has to offer, including Fred Bruning, president of CenterCal Properties, the Portland-based firm that owns the Valley Mall in Union Gap, and Chris Waddle of Creekside Commercial Real Estate, who is involved in several commercial projects in the area.

I plan on following up with both of them later this week to see if the Yakima Valley will see any new retailers in the near future.

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* Speaking of the Valley Mall, a children's clothing store may be coming there. Bill Rathbone, Union Gap's planning coordinator, mentioned that he has an application to renovate a space at the Valley Mall for a Gymboree, a popular children's clothing store with locations nationwide. I'm still waiting for more confirmation from the San Francisco company.

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* It appears that consumers have not shaken their fear of buying. Retail trade sales in April dropped 0.4 percent from a month ago and dropped 11.4 percent from April 2008, according to figures released last week by the U.S. Commerce Department.

The figures indicate that the nation's economic situation is still a factor.

"Given the negative dynamics on employment and income that are still at play, it will still require an immense amount of policy force to revive consumer spending and get the economy back on a recovery path," Brian Bethune wrote in an analysis for IHS Global Insight. Bethune is chief U.S. financial economist for the economic analysis firm in Lexington, Mass.

Can't wait until next week for the Reporter's Notebook? Check out the Shop Talk blog (www.yakimaherald.com/shoptalk) for regular updates on the retail and restaurant world. Until then, happy shopping.

* Mai Hoang's Reporter's Notebook is published each Monday in the Business section. To reach her, call 509-577-7685 or e-mail mhoang@yakimaherald.com.

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