Earlier this month, Dealer Joe’s celebrated the grand opening of a brand new retailer positioned on the bottom ground of an house complicated in Sherman Oaks.
The chain isn’t new to the neighborhood, nevertheless. Simply throughout the road is one other Dealer Joe’s — a “legend” that has served prospects since 1973, retailer representatives mentioned.
The preliminary plan was to shut the outdated location when the brand new department was prepared — each are off the 101 Freeway on Riverside Drive. However ultimately, the corporate determined it is likely to be “enjoyable” to maintain each open, in accordance with Matt Judd, the brand new retailer’s supervisor.
“Our enterprise on this metropolis has been so super, so we determined to maintain them each,” he mentioned. “The town deserves it.”
The brand new retailer is about 40% larger than the one throughout the road, with a big choice of merchandise and extra aisles for purchasers to browse, Judd mentioned. It additionally affords parking in an underground storage — a giant draw for purchasers cautious of navigating the outdated cramped parking zone.
On Friday round midday, prospects flowed out and in of the neighboring shops.
The brand new retailer is about 40% larger than the one throughout the road.
(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Occasions)
“This one’s manner higher,” buyer Steve Emrick mentioned as he grabbed a procuring cart to go into the brand new retailer. “The opposite retailer can get fairly congested, and the parking was not as tight right here.”
One other shopper, Jacob Ruiz, mentioned he frequented the older location, however was excited to go to the brand new one for the primary time. He mentioned parking was a breeze, and as he left, he swore he’d “by no means return” to the opposite location.
However he additionally didn’t suppose the enlargement was utterly needed for the realm.
“Not right here. They need to enterprise out to different neighborhoods,” he mentioned.
Each shops have been nonetheless crowded — Judd mentioned he anticipated numerous prospects to remain loyal to the 1973 Dealer Joe’s.
Olga Virov mentioned she’s shopped on the smaller retailer for about 20 years. She was impressed by the parking choices the brand new retailer provided, however since she usually walks to the grocery retailer, she didn’t see the necessity to make the change.
“This one is extra handy. It’s cozy, and it’s simpler for me to get to, so I favor to go to this one,” she mentioned of the older location. “I’m not planning to go to that one until I’m procuring on the mall.”
Melany Figueroa-Garcia stopped on the older Dealer Joe’s on a grocery run. She mentioned she plans to maintain procuring there, calling it cozier. Plus, she mentioned she thinks the parking system on the new location is complicated. However she did like the choice of an even bigger location.
“If this location doesn’t have one thing I would like, I stroll over to the opposite location and get it,” she mentioned.
In an announcement to The Occasions, Dealer Joe’s mentioned that each shops are anticipated to stay open.
“Our purpose is all the time to deliver scrumptious merchandise at nice values to as many individuals as we are able to,” the assertion mentioned. “One of the simplest ways to try this is to open extra shops.”
