UPTOWN — Trader Joe’s is moving forward with plans to open a store in Uptown as the uber-popular grocer continues to expand in Chicago.
A permit allowing for the buildout of a Trader Joe’s at 804 W. Montrose Ave. was issued by the city Friday, public records show.
Trader Joe’s filed a preliminary liquor license inspection request for the Montrose Avenue storefront in August before applying for a liquor license for the site in November.
In August, and again in a statement sent Monday, the company confirmed it was looking at multiple new locations in the Chicago area but did not confirm plans to open in Uptown.
“We are actively looking at hundreds of neighborhoods across the country, including a few in Chicago, as we hope to open more new neighborhood stores each year. I do not yet have any new stores to confirm in the Chicago area. The information on our website is the most up-to-date information available,” spokesperson Nakia Rohde said in the statement.
The Uptown Trader Joe’s would be the third Chicago location of the specialty grocery store announced since October.
Last month, 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.
A new Trader Joe’s location in Jefferson Park was announced in early 2025, but the project fell through late last year due to disagreements over buying the property, Block Club reported.
Trader Joe’s is in expansion mode across the country, and the California-based company announced Friday a slew of new locations, including one in west suburban Oswego.
XMarket in Uptown is closing Sunday after only a year in business. Credit: Joe Ward/Block Club Chicago
The Trader Joe’s in Uptown would bring stability to a storefront that has struggled with vacancy since it debuted at the base of apartment tower Eight Eleven Uptown, which was completed in 2018 and at one point was slated to house a Treasure Island grocery store before the grocery chain went out of business.
The storefront to be occupied by Trader Joe’s was previously occupied by Peter Rubi Plant Based Market, which opened there in September 2021 as the second location for the Plainfield-based vegan grocery store. By January 2022, Peter Rubi had sold its Uptown and Plainfield stores to Plant X, the plant-based food company focused on e-commerce and traditional retail targeting the vegan market.
The store was rebranded to XMarket, a vegan grocer, before being turned into the short-lived food hall that closed in late 2024.
The Uptown Trader Joe’s would achieve a goal of many Far North Siders who have advocated for a Trader Joe’s for years. It comes after plans to bring the grocer to Clark Street in Andersonville 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 spot 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, a School of Rock music lessons business now anchors that development.
The grocery chain almost came to Edgewater before that, as the strip mall on Broadway just north of Foster Avenue was once slated to house a Trader Joe’s. 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 coming to the development.
Trader Joe’s currently has six locations in the city, including in River North, the Near North Side, Lincoln Park, North Center, the South Loop and Hyde Park.
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