All Over Albany

This isn't going to help your supermarket envy

Consumer Reports has released supermarket rankings based on a survey of thousands of its readers (you need to be a CR subscriber to see the whole list). And the results are going to cause people in the Capital Region with already-established supermarket envy turn even a few more shades green.

(Paging Bruce Roter!)

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Interesting in 2008: Bruce Roter

One of the best things about working on AOA this past year is that we've had the chance to meet a lot of interesting people. We'll be highlighting a handful of them between now and the start of 2009.

People in the Capital Region are passionate about their supermarkets. And maybe none more so than Bruce Roter.

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Trader Joe's update

The TU has a report from a gathering this past weekend of the We Want Trader Joe's in the Capital District group. It seems the Legion of Bruce's persistence could be paying off. Maybe.

Bruce Roter tells the TU that a local TJ's store is now "no longer a question of if, but when." The evidence? An email from the Trader Joe's vice president of real estate, in which the VP states, "Albany does seem to have a lot of potential for Trader Joe's."

Hmm.

Earlier AOA coverage of the Trader Joe's campaign.

photo: CelinaBean

How "likely" is a local Trader Joe's?

It seems there will be many chapters in the Capital Region Trader Joe's story. And in the latest installment, Rensselaer County legislator Brian Zweig (or someone claiming to be him) reports in a comment on the TU's business blog that he's been in touch with the somewhat secretive supermarket -- and an Albany TJ's is "likely." Eventually. Maybe.

Zweig also reports that "other high-end food retailers are also exploring entry into the Albany region." Hmm. Anyone want to venture a guess?

Earlier AOA items about Trader Joe's.

The Trader Joe's campaign rolls on

Is it possible WWTJ is better organized than the McCain campaign?

We'd heard about these yard signs, but almost didn't believe it until we saw this one planted in the grassy median at the corner of Manning and New Scotland in Albany.

If the mysterious Trader Joe's ever does land in the Capital Region, Bruce Roter is gonna have to turn that campaign infrastructure toward something else. Like the Senate. Or maybe the White House. We hear the Democrats are having some trouble settling on a candidate.

Trader Joe's -- the saga continues

Shh. Don't tell anyone.

What do Trader Joe's and the National Security Agency have in common? On the surface not much, but try asking them a few questions. With all the buzz about getting Trader Joe's to come to A-Town, we thought we'd just give them a call and ask, once and for all: are they coming or not?

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The guy behind the Trader Joe's campaign

Our blog BFF CelinaBean has an interview with Bruce Roter, the organizer of the We Want Trader Joe's in the Capital District group. Here's a clip:

CB: There are a lot of causes out there to get involved in. Why Trader Joe's?

BR: I see it as a need, perhaps it was a personal need, but I just love shopping at Trader Joe's. And much to my delight, I've been joined by hundreds of other residents of the capital region who share that passion.

But to dispel any notion that this is what I do ever single moment of the day, that's not the case at all. I do have a real career and my real avocation is that of a composer. I compose orchestral music. I've written music which emulates the Middle East peace process, which celebrates first responders, so I'd like to think that I'm multi-dimensional....I've been commissioned by orchestras around the country including right here at home by the Albany Symphony Orchestra.

CB: So when did this Trader Joe's thing start for you?

BR: It began this past summer in mid-August when I was in the park talking to a friend. I was toying with starting a little club like this, and when I mentioned Trader Joe's there was this wonderful reaction on this friend's face. I knew that instantly that there were other kindred spirits in the Capital Region who would also be interested in this campaign.

And I seem to have simply given voice to all these other hundreds of other people including many professionals from our region. I've been emailed by doctors, lawyers, architects, business people, politicians, homemakers. The people who are part of this campaign really run the gamut of the fabric of this society in the Capital District.

As we recently found out, there's quite a clamor to bring a TJ's here.

photo: CelinaBean

Trader Joe's fans unite

Honk if you want Trader Joe's

A guy named Jason stumbled upon this message in an area parking lot and passed it along to AOA. The site wwtj.org is part of a movement to bring this awesome alternative grocery store to the Capital Region.

We might need one of those bumper stickers.

(Thanks, Jason!)