May. 24, 2023 By Carlotta Mohamed
After much speculation about Trader Joe’s coming to Forest Hills, the national grocery chain confirmed on its website that a new store will open at 69-65 Yellowstone Blvd., the site of the old Key Food Supermarket.
“We’ve consulted our maps and compass and have found a terrific location for a store in Forest Hills, NY,” Trader Joe’s announced on its website. “We are proud to be joining the neighborhood, and to continue our commitment to providing nourishment to the surrounding communities through our Neighborhood Shares program.”
Although a specific opening date has not been set, Trader Joe’s is expected to open sometime in 2023. The grocery chain will continue to post new details about the store and its opening date.
On the Facebook group community page, Forest Hills residents expressed excitement about the new addition to the neighborhood.
“The new location is a very densely populated area, with many large buildings with many seniors,” a resident wrote. “We lost a supermarket and it’s really missed. Good to have a fair priced market in the location.”
Questions were raised about whether there would be parking available for customers. Some residents cited that it would be impossible to find parking on the busy intersection of Queens Boulevard and that the store would bring more traffic to the area.
“Queens [Boulevard’s] widest intersection is about to see gridlock like never before. Hopefully DOT will do whatever necessary to mitigate the chaos,” a resident wrote on the Facebook group community page.
With few options get get decent groceries in the area, particularly for people who don’t have a car, one resident said that “the fact that anyone would be against a great grocery store opening up right in the middle of a densely populated section of the neighborhood, which is only getting denser with all the new high-rises going up, is absolutely baffling.”
In Queens, Trader Joe’s has locations at 90-30 Metropolitan Ave. in Rego Park, and at 22-43 Jackson Ave. in Long Island City.
The grocery store chain is committed to providing its customers with outstanding value in the form of the best quality at the best everyday prices, according to its website.