Trader Joe's Hoping To Come To Freehold Township

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP, NJ — Trader Joe's fans in western Monmouth County, rejoice: Plans are in the works to bring the grocery store to Freehold Township.

Kenya Friend-Daniel, spokeswoman for Trader Joe's, confirmed the company is working to bring the chain to the township.

"We're early in the process," she said, adding that the company is taking steps to bring the store to the town.

The Freehold Township Planning Board has received an application for a 12,855-square-foot grocery store for the site of the former Walgreens in the Pond Road Plaza, 4345 Route 9, an official in the planning board office confirmed Thursday.

The plans include a warehouse in addition to the store, the Asbury Park Press reported. The name of the store was not revealed in the application, the report said, but plans showed similar signage to Trader Joe's.

The application is still in process and has not been scheduled for a hearing before the planning board, the Freehold Township official said.

Trader Joe's opened a store in Brick Township in October at Brick Plaza, the first one it's opened in Ocean County. A store in Freehold Township would be the third in the Monmouth-Ocean area, joining one in Shrewsbury that has been in operation for several years.

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