After Years of False Starts, Trader Joe's Is Finally Coming to Uptown — Here's What We Know
By Socialhood News · Uptown ·
Uptown neighbors, the grocery news you have been waiting for is now officially confirmed: Trader Joe's is coming to the neighborhood, and it is opening at 804 W. Montrose Ave.
The confirmation came this week. Block Club Chicago reported on October 14 that a Trader Joe's spokesperson confirmed the Uptown location is slated to open in 2027 — ending months of officially unconfirmed speculation and years of neighborhood-level clamoring for the popular grocer to plant a flag on the Far North Side.
The road to this announcement has been anything but direct. Rumors that Trader Joe's was eyeing the Montrose Avenue storefront began circulating last year when the company filed a preliminary liquor license inspection request for the space in August 2025, then applied for a liquor license for the site in November. In March 2026, the city issued a permit allowing for the buildout — but even then, Trader Joe's would not formally confirm its plans. The company's Tuesday confirmation to Block Club marks the first time it has publicly acknowledged the Uptown store on the record.
The storefront itself has a somewhat turbulent recent history. Located at the base of Eight Eleven Uptown, an apartment tower completed in 2018, the space was originally slated to house a Treasure Island grocery — before that beloved Chicago chain went out of business. It most recently served as XMarket, a vegan grocery concept that pivoted to a food hall model before closing in 2024. After that closure, the space sat vacant once again. A Trader Joe's moving in would finally bring stability to a retail anchor that the building and the surrounding block have been waiting years to find.
For the broader Uptown community, the significance of this announcement goes well beyond one storefront. The neighborhood has been adding hundreds of new residents through a sustained wave of residential construction — new towers on Sheridan, buildings on Leland and Argyle, a proposed seven-story development at 4006 N. Sheridan with 91 apartments, and more in the pipeline. That growth has increased the demand for quality, everyday grocery options in a neighborhood that has historically had to send residents elsewhere for the full-service grocery experience that a Trader Joe's provides. Having a TJ's at Montrose and Broadway — steps from the CTA Red Line's Montrose stop — would give the neighborhood the kind of walkable, high-quality grocery anchor that fits Uptown's dense, transit-oriented character perfectly.
The Uptown store is not the only Far North Side Trader Joe's in the works. Block Club also confirmed this week that the company is opening a second location at Lincoln Village Shopping Center, 6191 N. Lincoln Ave., in North Park. Alderperson Debra Silverstein (50th) had announced that store back in April, and told constituents in July it was targeting a 2027 opening — though the company spokesperson declined to commit to a specific timeline for the North Park location when asked this week.
Trader Joe's currently operates six Chicago stores as of spring 2026. The Uptown, North Park, Logan Square, and Fulton Market locations were all announced within roughly six months of each other, representing the company's most aggressive Chicago expansion in recent memory. For Uptown, which has watched TJ's open in Lincoln Park, Wicker Park, and the South Loop over the years, finally getting its own location feels like the neighborhood claiming a place it has long deserved on the grocer's map.
No specific opening date beyond "next year" has been released. Neighbors eager for updates can keep an eye on Block Club Chicago's Uptown coverage and on exploreuptown.org for the latest. In the meantime, the buildout at 804 W. Montrose Ave. is underway — and the neighborhood's most anticipated grocery opening in years is now a matter of when, not if. Are you excited for Trader Joe's to arrive in Uptown? Drop your thoughts in the comments and stay connected at exploreuptown.org!
Sources:
1. https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/10/14/trader-joes-uptown-store-will-open-next-year-north-park-store-also-in-the-works-company-says/
2. https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/03/30/trader-joes-planning-new-store-in-uptown/
3. https://horizonconstructionteamllc.com/chicago-neighborhoods-new-retail-space/
4. https://chicago.urbanize.city/neighborhood/uptown