Update: The Trader Joe’s in Miller Place is now open!
You may have passed by the parking lot and seen that it was full of cars. If you’re a Trader Joe’s fan, you probably got excited. The store, long planned and being raised before the eyes of the community over the last few months seems like it’s open. Sike! It’s not.
The store is still waiting for Town approval, according to an employee on sight. At the moment they are training employees. which explains all the cars in the parking lot. Shoppers are greeted by two employees who hand out a newsletter and tell them that the store isn’t operational quite yet but hopes to be soon.
“Maybe tomorrow,” the employee said when asked for the opening date.
One more day, folks. Possibly.
The buzz around a Trader Joe’s in Miller Place has been building for a long time. Back in July 2023, reports said Trader Joe’s had submitted an application and fees to the Brookhaven Town Planning Department to build a store on Route 25A, on a lot just west of Walgreens on the south side of the road. At the time, Brookhaven Town Councilwoman Jane Bonner said she had been trying for years to bring the retailer to the area.
That earlier report also noted the vacant King Kullen shopping center in Mount Sinai was considered as a possible site, but Trader Joe’s typically prefers smaller stores with less square footage. And the traffic light by Walgreens wasn’t random: Bonner said it was required when Walgreens was built in anticipation of future development. That development stalled as retail economics shifted with the rise of online shopping and then the pandemic.
Even then, locals were told not to expect a quick turnaround. The 2023 report said the project would need to move through town review along with state and county-level agency reviews before construction could fully proceed, with an estimated timeline of about a year and a half before opening. The development site was described as roughly 2.5 acres, and Trader Joe’s itself did not publicly confirm the plan at the time, staying consistent with the company’s reputation for being tight-lipped about new locations.
Photo: Lon Cohen.
