Merriam’s first grocery store in eight years officially opened to the public on Wednesday morning.
Hundreds of shoppers showed up to the California grocery chain’s Wednesday morning opening of the new Merriam store at 8700 Shawnee Mission Parkway, lining up out front and around the corner after 7 a.m.
Before Trader Joe’s opened at Shawnee Mission Parkway and Antioch Road, Merriam had been without a grocery store within city limits since Hen House left Merriam Town Center in 2018.
The opening also marks Trader Joe’s second-ever location in Johnson County.
The grocery store is the anchor of a $102 million redevelopment project at the northwest corner of Shawnee Mission Parkway and Antioch Road called Merriam Grand Station Marketplace.
“I am ecstatic,” Mayor Bob Pape told the Post on Wednesday morning ahead of the store’s grand opening. “I’m really excited at the fact that we’re now bringing a grocery store back to Merriam. Not just that it’s a grocery store, but it’s a destination grocery store such as Trader Joe’s.”
A 4,000-square-foot retail space and more than 200 apartments are also part of the redevelopment project.
Its sister development across the street, Merriam Grand Station, replaced the long-vacant Kmart with retail, restaurants and apartments.
The store highlights Kansas City and Merriam
The nearly 9,500-square foot store in Merriam features regular grocery store offerings like produce, meats and poultry, dairy products and pantry goods.
Upon walking into the store, shoppers are immediately greeted by the floral section featuring a variety of fresh flowers, as well as house plants.
The Trader Joe’s in Merriam does not sell alcoholic beverages.
Shoppers familiar with Kansas City may also notice nods to the metro area inside the store.
Prints of public school mascots like the eagles of Hocker Grover Middle and the bison of Shawnee Mission North hang from pillars throughout the store.
Lining the walls near the ceilings are murals of barbecue sauce bottles and Union Station.
On Wednesday, the grocery store’s opening drew shoppers from the city itself — like the mayor and at least one councilmember — but also people from nearby.
Pam Zabielski, who lives in the Turner area of Kansas City, Kansas, stood in line on Wednesday morning, arriving after 7 a.m.
Zabielski said her other nearby grocery store offerings are lackluster, but the new Trader Joe’s in Merriam is only five minutes from her house.
“It actually is really convenient for us to have something that close,” Zabielski said. “Before, the only one (Trader Joe’s) they have, the nearest one is way out in Johnson County. We just don’t hardly ever get there.”
As a frequent Aldi shopper, Zabielski said she’s also excited about the new store headed to Merriam Town Center.
The new Trader Joe’s is years in the making
For Pape, who is in his second term as mayor, the new Trader Joe’s is a product of the city listening to what its residents want.
After Hen House left in 2018, Pape said, residents have consistently asked the city to bring a grocery store back to Merriam.
The effort to bring back a grocery store dates back years, Pape said, including when Drake Development proposed a project to transform the site of the old Kmart, across the street from what is now Trader Joe’s.
While efforts to bring a grocery store to Merriam Grand Station, the Kmart redevelopment, fell through, Pape said, the goal remained in place.
“We told them how much we wanted a grocery store,” Pape said. “When that project started, they knew we wanted a grocery store, so they kept seeking out a grocery store and landed Trader Joe’s.”
Johnson County Library decided to relocate the Antioch branch to what is now Merriam Plaza, next door to the Merriam Community Center, leaving the old library site open for redevelopment.
The city purchased the land and owns the Trader Joe’s property, which is now the anchor of the $102 million Merriam Grand Station Marketplace development.
For Matt Pennington, president of Drake Development, the Trader Joe’s opening is the culmination of a years-long investment in the Shawnee Mission Parkway corridor.
“Today is, honestly, a lot of excitement, for myself, for my team and for the city of Merriam,” Pennington said.
Drake’s interest in the corridor began with the former Kmart that turned into what is now Merriam Grand Station.
Efforts to get a grocery store to that redevelopment fell through, but Pennington said he thinks “all things happen for a reason.”
“It’s been really amazing to watch how much that project was for the catalyst for the city, and it changed the dynamic of this gateway to Merriam,” Pennington said. “It ultimately gave us the opportunity to land Trader Joe’s.”
Trader Joe’s is open daily
The new Trader Joe’s in Merriam is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
Soon, it will be one of two grocery store offerings in Merriam.
An Aldi is coming to the OfficeMax at 5830 Antioch Road. It will be more than double the size of the Trader Joe’s at 24,000 square feet.
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