Trader Joe's Fan Starts Online Petition: Come to Broward

Trader Joe's

Is Trader Joe's coming to Broward?

​Nadine Whiteman loves Trader Joe's. The former New Yorker used to shop at the organic market, which features fair-priced produce, cheap wine, and private-label foods. A nurse living in Hollywood, Whiteman misses her trips to Trader Joe's so much that she's started a campaign to bring the store to Broward County.

Whiteman has set up an online petition where fans of the store can add their name to a growing list of fans who want to be able to buy Two-Buck Chuck, Trader Joe's famous cheap wine, in their neighborhood. So far, Whiteman says she has about 460 signatures on the petition she started Sunday. She says she wants at least 2,000 virtual signatures before she sends it in to Trader Joe's corporate office in California.


Whiteman isn't just hoping people will find her webpage either. Fueled by a story in the Sun-Sentinel about her grassroots effort, Whiteman got energized and started calling local politicians to get them onboard. "I've written the mayor's office and county commissioners," she says. "I've already had a county commissioner sign the petition, so I'm really hopeful. If the West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority can get behind actively pursuing Trader Joe's, then so can Broward."

Whiteman is talking about the West Palm Beach Downtown Development Authority's "What would I trade to have Trader Joe's?" campaign, started last month. 

Allison Mochizuki in the publicity department at Trader Joe's headquarters told Clean Plate Charlie that the only Florida location they are announcing at this time is the Naples location, which opened February 10. That doesn't necessarily rule out any plans for Trader Joe's to come to Broward County. It just confirms Trader Joe's policy to keep mum on any projects in the works.

Click here to sign the petition to get Trader Joe's to Broward County.