It's an idea that had been tossed around for a few years, and local resident Patricia Carr tried to move it forward this summer, when she circulated a petition during the annual New Milford Fair Days. She subsequently submitted it, with its approximately 500 signatures, to Trader Joe's corporate offices, saying in her letter, "If I had had eight arms and as many writing pads, I could have collected eight times as many signatures in the four hours that I worked at the Fair."
In her letter, she offered some reasons for the overwhelmingly positive response she had to her petition, stating: "Some of the reasons cited were convenience, fantastic range of wonderful foods, many of them organic (of special interest for people with allergies) and excellent prices. A few people with whom I spoke said they no longer go to the Danbury TJ's because it is too far (a 35-40 minute drive).'
It was not enough to persuade the company to consider establishing a branch in town.
In an e-mail earlier this week, Mrs. Carr passed along Trader Joe's "final and disappointing response."
Brandt Sharrock, writing from the specialty grocery store chain's corporate development offices in Needham, Mass., said, "Thanks again for letting us know about your interest in having your very own Trader Joe's. Wow! It's certainly flattering to know you've gotten so much support for our store. We are continually humbled by future customers telling us they want us to come to their town.
"When it comes to new stores, our preference is measured and steady growth, so that we can deliver that signature Trader Joe's style with all of our great foods and beverages. When we do open our new stores, we do it in such a way that all of our stores make sense across a few different parameters. If we do this well and keep our costs down, we can continue to offer the best deals on groceries around.
"So, while we do appreciate your enthusiasm (we really do), we are not able to open a store without all of the parameters being satisfied," he said.
Vincent Nolan, the town's economic development supervisor, said in a recent interview that he had approached Trader Joe's as well "quite a while ago."
His initial approach, made "about two years ago," never came to the public's attention, however, because "nothing came of it," he said.
"They weren't interested," he said, "because we don't fit their criteria," in terms of potential customer base and other considerations, adding that what helped to make Danbury an appealing location was its proximity to I-84.
Mr. Nolan said Wednesday that after he learned of Mrs. Carr's petition, he made a second approach to Trader Joe's but as of mid-week he hadn't receive any response.
Mrs. Carr said Wednesday that she's considering approaching Trader Joe's again. Referring to New Milford' s potential, she said she is wondering, "Have you really cased it out?"
In an earlier interview, Mrs. Carr told The Housatonic Times, "We need a good anchor store, one that would bring more people in [to downtown New Milford]. Trader Joe's is a nice store... . I really feel you need a good store like this or a similar one that sold things like special desserts and takeout meals, good cheeses-not a meat and two veggies one."
Patricia Greenspan of the New Milford Trust for Historic Preservation said at the time that she shared Mrs. Carr's sentiments.
"Several months ago, maybe six months or so, I had the same thought and sent an e-mail there, telling them about New Milford and that we needed a good grocery store in the downtown area," Mrs. Greenspan recounted.
"If we start to lose what is vital in the downtown, New Milford as we know it will be gone," she added.