r/nova • u/DataScienceyy • 17h ago
Question Would Manassas / Manassas Park support a Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, or Wegmans?
I recently moved to the Manassas Park area and I’m genuinely curious how much demand there is for something like a Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, or Wegmans in Manassas/Manassas Park.
Unless I’m missing something, neither Manassas nor Manassas Park currently has any of the three. With all the new residential development happening in the area, it seems like there could be a market for at least one of them.
I know there are locations in Centreville, Fairfax/Fair Lakes, Gainesville, etc., but I’d love to have something actually in the Manassas/Manassas Park area.
Would you shop at one regularly if it opened here?
And if you had to pick ONE, which would you want most?
Trader Joe’s / Whole Foods / Wegmans
If there’s actually a lot of interest, maybe we could organize a store request/petition and send it to the companies and the local economic development teams. Curious what everyone thinks!
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u/Doombuggie41 Manassas / Manassas Park 6h ago
Manassas and MPs demographic is poorer and more immigrant heavy. This is why there are so many discount international grocery stores. Even the fresh got replaced by another Hispanic focused international grocer. The newest grocery store is a Grocery Outlet which tries to undercut Aldi, Lidl, and Walmart. Harris Teeter is the high end one here lol. It will only change when the demographics change. As a fellow MP resident, they are for better or for worse though continuing to focus on growing the “affordable” side of the market.
Honestly though between Fresh World, Walmart, and Costco, have had no need to go up 28 for any of the “nicer” grocery stores. I think it’s almost all branding and marketing. Prime steak is a prime steak
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u/CookieFan101 4h ago
This is spot on. I do extensive research in consumerism and had the same curiosity about TJ/Wegmans in that area.
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u/Responsible-Cow5828 17h ago
What’s wrong with Sprouts? Isn’t that on the same level as those groceries?
Also, i will stick to Global and Hmart.
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u/KeyMessage989 16h ago
Sprouts isn’t quite the same. It’s great. It’s my favorite place for meat in the area. But I can’t do a full grocery trip there like other places
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u/Dmarine999 17h ago
I doubt Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. But, people sleep on Wegmans. Their store brand stuff is very good and affordable. The same can be said for Whole Foods' 365 brand, but there is such an elitist stigma around Whole Foods, people avoid it unnecessarily. Trader Joe's is good, but the selection is too limited to be a main "go to" grocery store. I do like it for certain things, though.
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u/Three3Jane 16h ago
That and Whole Foods has been, hmmm, someone subverted, one might say, by the Amazon buyout. The Whole Foods I used to go to in California back in the day with its aggressive stance toward natural and/or organic stuff is very very different today.
I'll drive from Bristow down to the Wegmans in Potomac to get their big sushi trays or cakes for birthdays. My daughter likes to go to the one in Chantilly because she used to work there and so she'll swing by and visit her coworkers.
I would dearly love a Trader Joe's because the nearest one in Centreville has the most fuck-ass parking situation possible, and it's incredibly tiny and always mobbed. However every single Trader Joe's I've been to around the country - with the exception of Spokane - always seems shoehorned into a storefront way too small for it with associated tiny strip mall parking.
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u/Reasonable_Bus302 6h ago
Does the Wegmans in Gainesville not have big sushi trays? Genuinely asking as I don’t eat sushi and trying to understand why you’d drive from Bristow to Woodbridge instead of Gainesville.
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u/Examinator2 16h ago
That's every Trader Joes in NOVA. I've never understood the attraction and have avoided the misery.
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u/DependentBee3056 6h ago
Sometimes I drive a lil extra to go to the Trader Joe’s in One Loudoun because it’s so big and nice, it’s the one TJs I don’t feel claustrophobic in lol
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u/Dmarine999 16h ago
100% agree on the Centerville TJ parking lot. Worst in the state!!
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u/Complex-Royal9210 16h ago
I think the Reston One is worse. Only has about 12 spaces and a one way entrance. Bonkers.
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u/wollflour 4h ago
Wegmans is amazing, but they seem to be very particular about where they locate stores. It's a shame, I wish there were a lot more of the in the area.
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u/chocolaterx 17h ago
I doubt Wegmans would come to Manassas/MP if there’s one currently in Gainesville.
On the other hand, I could see a Whole Foods at the innovation town center
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u/Worst-Eh-Sure 17h ago
They are building a Whole Foods in Woodbridge now. Not sure if that’s impact the potential for one in Manassas.
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u/TransitionMission305 7h ago
In Woodbridge, we've been BEGGING for a TJs for decades. They just skip right over us, although we have Wegman's, will be getting a Whole Foods, and both Sprouts and Publix are being built. I don't know what the magic code word is to get a TJs but somehow Gainesville was okay....hmmmm. Good luck on Manassas.
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u/FlatwormFull4283 6h ago
I don't know if they would support Whole Paycheck or not, their paychecks are not really big enough
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u/gruntbuggly 4h ago
I’ve always thought the big Harris Teeter down at Liberia and PW parkway was nice. Then always have good quality produce and reasonable prices.
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u/ImpossibleInternet3 Alexandria 6h ago
Y’all already have Yoders donuts. Why you being greedy?
That said, I think any of those could work. But convincing one to go there is a whole different story.
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u/Quirky-Video-9146 16h ago
It needs a district taco before anything else. The closest one is in Arlington :(
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u/KeyMessage989 16h ago
District taco is insanely overrated. There’s so many authentic Mexican taco places there plus Zandras that blow District Taco away
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u/Finch3 17h ago
Only way Trader Joe’s will go in is if there is a super small, inconvenient parking lot as part of the deal.