What was long-rumored is now a fact: SAVVY has learned that Trader Joe’s is coming to the former CVS/Acme space in Berwyn.
The new store will 10,387 sq. ft. – a tad smaller than its 11,310 sq. ft. store in Gateway Shopping Center in Tredyffrin and its 12,000+ sq. ft. store in Ardmore.
“We have no plans to close any stores in the area,” Trader Joe’s Public Relations Manager Nakia Rohde tells SAVVY. A source tells us the lease at the Gateway location – less than three miles from Berwyn – has already been renewed.
There is no target date for opening in Berwyn, Rodhe says. And buildout plans have not yet been filed for approval in Easttown Township, confirms Easttown Director of Planning and Zoning Colleen Gray.
Trader Joe’s is also opening a new store at the old Bed Bath & Beyond in King of Prussia, its fourth in Montgomery County. Rohde tells us the KOP store’s opening is “getting close” but there is “no confirmed opening date.”
The Berwyn space has been vacant since CVS closed in 2023 as part of a company-wide cost-saving initiative. An Acme market previously operated there for 50 years, closing in July of 2003, a day before a much ballyhooed “Acme Superstore” opened in Devon roughly a mile away.
Why did Trader’s Joe’s land on Berwyn?
First, it seems clear from the success of the Gateway market that the western Main Line can support another store. Shoppers drive for miles – some from as far as Chester Springs and Downingtown – for Trader Joe’s no-middleman pricing, signature offerings and congenial (AND often endearingly quirky) crew members.
Plus, the company is on the move. Trader Joe’s now has more than 590 stores across the U.S. and is on track to open 15 locations before the end of the year.
“Our goal is always to bring delicious products at great values to as many people and neighborhoods as we can,” Rohde says. “The best way to do that is to open more stores.”