Trader Joe's opens its third Sarasota County grocery store Thursday, Nov. 12, at 8199 S. Tamiami Trail.

Doors open at 9 a.m.

The 8,500-square-foot location will operate from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. The store sits in Unit 100, across Beneva Road from the former Sarasota Square Mall site and minutes from Siesta Key and Palmer Ranch.

Store Captain Abé Desta and crew members will greet customers on opening day.

To staff the location, Trader Joe's hired more than 20 people from the surrounding area and transferred others from nearby stores, according to a company news release cited by the Herald-Tribune. The chain's Lakewood Ranch store at 8111 Cooper Creek Blvd. opened in 2023.

Growing grocery options along the corridor

The new store lands in a stretch of South Tamiami Trail that is gaining grocery competition. Sprouts Farmers Market operates in Pelican Plaza on Tamiami Trail, and a Publix sits in the Plaza at Palmer Ranch.

A Whole Foods is planned to anchor the first phase of Torburn Partners' redevelopment of the former Sarasota Square Mall across the street, though no opening date has been announced. Most of the mall, which was built in 1977, was demolished to make way for the project. The development calls for 1,200 residential units and 530,000 square feet of retail, dining and wellness space.

Part of a national push

The Sarasota store is part of a broader Trader Joe's expansion. The company plans to open 30 new stores in 16 states, including Florida, the Herald-Tribune reported. The New York Post reported in July that the chain opened 34 stores in 2024 and 43 in 2025. Trader Joe's operates more than 600 locations in 42 states and the District of Columbia.

The store's Neighborhood Shares Program will donate all unsold products that remain fit to eat to local nonprofit organizations, according to the Herald-Tribune.

IKEA is also scheduled to open a Sarasota store on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at University Town Center, 147 N. Cattleman Road, WFLA reported.