Happy May! Hopefully we are over the mini winters and on to sunny warm days. Looking forward to some new restaurants in the area opening soon.
This month I will talk about what it takes to get a Whole Foods and Trader Joes to an area.
Whole Foods looks for an area that has around 200,000 people within a 20 minute drive to their location. They feel this is the most time they will spend driving to get to the store. In Charles County we have 163,000 total. There is less in St Mary's and Calvert. So by those numbers alone we don't qualify. They also look for a large number of college educated residents. We currently sit around 30% that have a college diploma.
Trader Joes looks for Median household incomes above $100,000 and population density. They are what they call a neighborhood store so they want heavy density in one spot. Expensive homes and disposable income with a university or large medical complex close by really makes them happy. So I hope that helps explain why they will not come down this way.
“Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference. They bless the one who receives them, and they bless you, the giver.” —Barbara De Angelis
