Is Trader Joe’s Opening Another Monmouth County Location?

I spilled the beans on the plans to build a Trader Joe's in Brick back in March of last year. Now I'm hearing rumblings of another TJs set to open by years end in Monmouth County.

Because Trader Joe's is very hush-hush on grand openings, I wasn't able to get absolute confirmation on this, but two different sources say the super popular grocery chain is in the planning phase with Freehold Township to open a store in the Pond Road Shopping Center next to Michael's where Walgreen's used to be.

One source claims they were at a wedding with a Trader Joe’s executive and they confirmed the Freehold location. The other spoke to someone in the know at the Shrewsbury location and added that a launch date is set for October 2020.

My first thought was that while the space is about right for the store, the actual location is not the best. Parking is kind of limited.

I want to repeat that this is still a rumor at this point. I've reached out to Trader Joe's and Freehold Township for comment with no answer from either party.

Have you heard anything? Let me know confidentially at matt.ryan@townsquaremedia.com.