Residents Petition for Trader Joe's in Old Magruder's Space

It's been two months since Magruder's Supermarket — a family grocery store that had anchored the corner of Maple Avenue and Courthouse Road for decades — shut its doors.

And now a group of residents is asking Trader Joes to take its place.

As of Sunday night, 610 people had signed a change.org petition called "Trader Joe's: Come to Vienna, Virginia, to fill in the void left by Magruders." 

They're hoping it will attract the attention of the specialty grocery store

There are 14 Trader Joe's in the Washington, DC area — including locations in Reston, Falls Church and Fairfax.

But those that signed the petition argued traffic often makes them rethink the trip to those locations, or avoid them all together.

The Magruder's space, on the other hand, is central to many Vienna shoppers.

"The store has an ideal size and the Trader Joe concept would be a great replacement," one petitioner wrote.

Some argued it would also be filling a void: the cheaper produce, wine and beer that Magruder's once offered is hard to come by at other Vienna grocery stores, residents said. 

But it might not be as easy as an online petition, even one with a lot of traction.

Trader Joe's takes requests for new locations on its website, but a quick google search yields dozens of communities, some with thousands of signatures, still lobbying for a store in their neighborhood.

In a 2010 article about a fight to bring a Trader Joe's to another DC neighborhood, Greater Greater Washington said if a community wanted a the store, it would have to add more residents.

"There's only one real way to get such businesses to move in: Add more residents who can shop there."

Do you agree? Do you think Vienna has a chance of bringing a Trader Joe's to town? Tell us in the comments.

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