Trader Joe’s Uptown Store Opens Monday

UPTOWN — A Trader Joe’s is opening on the Far North Side sooner than expected.

The popular grocery store chain is opening 9 a.m. Monday at 804 W. Montrose Ave. in Uptown, a company spokesperson said. Last month, the company said the store wouldn’t open until next year.

Monday’s grand opening will be celebrated with samples and giveaways, the spokesperson said.

The nearly 10,000 square-foot grocery store is the first new Trader Joe’s in Chicago in six years, the company said.

Rumors that Trader Joe’s was eyeing the Montrose Avenue storefront started swirling last year when the company filed a preliminary liquor license inspection request for the space before applying for a liquor license for the site in November. In March, a permit allowing for the buildout was issued by the city, though Trader Joe’s would not confirm its plans at the time.

The storefront, located at the base of an apartment tower, has had a slate of different businesses following a long period of vacancy; most recently, it was home to XMarket, a vegan grocery turned food hall that closed in 2024.

The company is also opening a store in the Lincoln Village Shopping Center, 6191 N. Lincoln Ave., in North Park, though the timeline on that in unclear.

The Uptown location comes after years of Far North Siders clamoring for a Trader Joe’s.

There were plans to bring the grocer to Clark Street in Andersonville, but those fell through in 2023.

In 2020, West Ridge neighbors and business development officials petitioned Trader Joe’s to open at the former Baker’s Square location at Western and Touhy avenues. That site has since been redeveloped into a strip mall anchored by Starbucks.

In 2015, Edgewater neighbors pushed for Trader Joe’s to open at the former home of El Norte at 5600 N. Ridge Ave., but the company declined the offer. Instead, School of Rock now anchors that development.

The grocery chain almost came to Edgewater more than a decade ago, to the strip mall on Broadway just north of Foster Avenue. But the company pulled out at the last minute, much to the dismay of neighbors, DNAinfo Chicago reported. A PetSmart, Chipotle and Starbucks ended up opening in the mall.

In February, Trader Joe’s confirmed plans to open in Logan Square, with that store set to occupy a former CVS on Milwaukee Avenue. The grocer also plans to open a store in a planned 25-story apartment tower at 170 N. May St. in Fulton Market.

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