Update | Designers teased Trader Joe’s to Kennewick planners. Too good to be true?

The possibility of a Trader Joe’s coming to Kennewick was apparently too good to be true. Despite teasing city officials with the possibility of the company coming to a Kennewick shopping center, the developer is now saying Trader Joe’s is off the table.

Over the summer a local design firm met with city planners for a meeting about some new stores that could be coming to part of the Columbia Center mall, but the identity of one was apparently shrouded by a nondisclosure agreement.

What could demand that kind of secrecy? Why would a retailer make a developer sign a nondisclosure agreement?

The secret may have slipped into a design rendering submitted to Kennewick planners.

During the feasibility meeting between the city and Wave Design, they indicated the former Toys “R” Us building was set to be divided into three new storefronts: A Sierra Trading Post, an unnamed business and possibly a future restaurant.

The unnamed business was included in one of the design renderings. The sign reads Trader Joe’s.

After an earlier version of this article was published online, detailing the meeting, Wave Design group posted on social media that “Trader Joe’s has been off the table for many months.”

Feasibility meeting

The meeting included city planning employees and two representatives from Wave Design Group, according to the sign-in sheet and a public audio recording of the session.

During the meeting, the developer said the Sierra was locked in, and they hoped to have confirmation of the other business within a month, but that they could not say what it was because they were under a nondisclosure agreement, or NDA.

Sierra is owned by TJX, the parent company of TJ Maxx, HomeGoods and Marshalls. They specialize in affordable outdoor clothing.

Under the feasibility plan presented, the building would be divided into:

• A 16,500-square-foot store next to the former Ulta beauty products outlet, which would likely be the Sierra.

• A 8,000-square-foot space that could eventually be used for a restaurant.

• And a 13,000-square-foot store on the far corner facing West Quinault Avenue. The space was shown with a Trader Joe’s sign.

“We’re hoping that the far thing is going to come online within 30 days, but we can’t talk about it, otherwise we’d have to kill you guys and then ourselves,” a representative for the developer joked during the meeting.

At that point, someone in the meeting pointed out the artist renderings.

“If you zoom in you can see it,” they said.

“I see nothing,” the developer responded, prompting laughter.

“That bottom picture there, that’s the one that faces Quinault?” another person asked, referring to the same store.

‘Not on the list’

The Herald reached out to Trader Joe’s company officials on Thursday about their plans.

“We consider many locations. All of the locations that are opening soon are listed on our website. Unfortunately, Kennewick is not on the list at this time,” a representative for the company said.

Evelyn Lusignan, Public Relations Manager for the city of Kennewick said that it is not unusual for building plans to be submitted without the name on them.

She said so far the developer has only approached the city for the feasibility meeting for Sierra, and that city employees have not signed an NDA.

“We would love for Trader Joe’s to come to a Kennewick location and have promoted our city to them for many years,” Lusignan said.

Lusignan also noted that sometimes renderings include placeholders for other stores, and that the city has not yet received permit requests for the building or any of the three potential businesses.

Because only the feasibility plans have been submitted so far, it is unclear when major renovation work would begin, or any of the new stores could open.

The Herald reached out to the design firm on Friday, asking for more information about the discussions with Trader Joe’s, but has not received a response.

This would not be the first attempt to bring a Trader Joe’s to the Tri-Cities.

Developers involved with both the Broadmoor area development and Osprey Pointe development in Pasco previously told the Herald they were interested in trying to hook the popular grocer.

Simon Property Group owns Columbia Center mall, including the retail strip that once housed Toys R Us. The toy company closed its 800 stores, including the Kennewick store, in 2018 after filing for bankruptcy.

The closure came within months of Sears and Shopko in the Columbia Center area shutting their doors.