Trader Joe’s new Lakewood Ranch location gets opening date

Trader Joe’s is opening a store in Lakewood Ranch off of Interstate 75 in a week, the California-based grocer announced Thursday.

Doors will open on Thursday at 8111 Cooper Creek Blvd. within University Town Center. It’ll be the second Trader Joe’s in the Sarasota-Bradenton area and the 10th in Florida.

Lakewood Ranch — a master-planned community across Sarasota and Manatee counties — is one of the best-selling real estate neighborhoods in the nation, according to real estate consultancy firm RCLCO. The 12,000-square-foot Lakewood Ranch location is currently the state’s only confirmed Trader Joe’s store in development.

Trader Joe’s began looking for employees earlier this month and is still in the process of hiring, the company said.

The Lakewood Ranch store will open at 8 a.m. next Thursday. It will be open between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. everyday. The inside of the store will have artwork paying tribute to the neighborhood parks, school and wildlife, Trader Joe’s said.

The first Trader Joe’s in the Sarasota-Bradenton area is in Sarasota along the Tamiami Trail. The two Tampa Bay-area stores are in St. Petersburg and South Tampa.