Trader Joe's - Long Island City: Info and Tips
Updated: May 23, 2022
This is a wonderful addition to the up and coming sprawling neighborhood of long island city. It will forever change the landscape of LIC.
Table of Contents:
Background information
This is the first and only Trader Joe's to open in Long island city and they opened their doors on June 25th, 2021. It is technically their second location in Queens, with the first one located at 90-30 Metropolitan Ave, Rego Park, NY 11374.
Trader Joe's is a national chain of neighborhood grocery stores, which shoppers absolutely adore. Much of it has to do with the store culture because all of their staff are always incredibly pleasant and just love being there. They got their start in California back in 1967 but now they've made their way across to New York.
Store information and hours
This store is located at 2243 Jackson Ave, Long Island City, NY 11101. It is occupying one of the commercial spaces of the luxury condo, The Prime LIC. They take up most of the ground floor retail space coming in at about 17,000 square feet, with their entrance directly facing Jackson Ave.
In regards to the commercial space, there is actually a smaller space approximately 300 sqft that is still unoccupied. There is also an equivalent sized commercial space as the ground floor in the basement of the building which is set to become Five Iron Golf. The golfing range is still currently under construction as of 4/26/22.
Store Hours:
Monday 8AM-9PM
Tuesday 8AM-9PM
Wednesday 8AM-9PM
Thursday 8AM-9PM
Friday 8AM-9PM
Saturday 8AM-9PM
Sunday 8AM-9PM
They do tend to close earlier on certain holidays and sometimes completely close for the major holidays to give their staff a break.
Transportation:
This Trader Joe's is located right next to the court square train station.
On the same block as the 7 train
Across the street from the E, G, and M train
There is also a B62 bus stop right outside on Jackson Ave.
Most of the shoppers simply walk or bike to the store since they live close by in the neighborhood but we've seen plenty of car hailing services dropping and picking up shoppers.
Parking at Trader Joe's Long Island City:
The one downside to shopping here is that there is no dedicated parking lot for the store. There are two paid parking garages right across the street at the two luxury rental buildings.
2244 Jackson Ave otherwise known as 5Pointz
There is no parking right outside Jackson Ave on the same block since it is reserved for the B62 bus stop and also for freight loading and unloading for TJs. Across the street in front of 5Pointz there is street parking. Also further down or up along Jackson will have metered parking available that is first come first serve.
Street parking is fairly difficult here so I would keep that in mind before driving over. You may need someone to watch the car if you are double parked. The meter maids are very attentive around here as we've seen multiple parking tickets being doled out. They've been especially active since TJ's opened their doors.
Tips for shopping there
Finish up your shopping before 5:30PM. That is the best tip that we can give you, in fact we would advise you to try to get into the store and start shopping by around 4-5PM since it is still not too crowded. Once it gets close to around 6PM which is when people start to get off work, the lines to check out can get pretty long. We've seen the check out lines wrap all the way to the entrance sometimes. It does tend to move pretty quickly but seeing it wrap to the front can be pretty intimidating.
Do you see that check out line? That's right it's non-existent because this photo was taken at 4:45 pm on a weekday. We'll snap you photo of when the line wraps around to the front entrance when we get the chance...
Items do run out throughout the day. Usually if you come early in the morning, most of the products are in stock but when it starts getting busy you can sometimes enter into a store with a lot of cleaned out shelves. This is more likely to happen towards closing time. If you want to ensure that you get what you want, come early!
Restocking times. They are actually restocking throughout the ENTIRE day. They do it before opening and they even do it multiple times after closing. We've seen the trucks there well past midnight on most days. Even with all of this restocking, they still run out of products. The demand for TJ's far outstrips their supply chain...
Why we love shopping there
It is an amazing experience to shop there just because of the variety of products that they carry. They are one of the few stores where their own private label items are even better than the brand name stuff! They also have a large rotating selection of items but the sad part is that sometimes they never bring back the items that you like. Despite that, their new products usually don't disappoint either.
Our entire staff at 1311 Jackson Ave Dental shop there all the time because it is super convenient, a 4 minute walk to be precise. Unfortunately we must go after work, which is why we know how long the lines can get! Try to finish up your shopping by 5:30PM so that you can avoid the crowds!
