Yesterday, we jokingly suggested Wegmans for the retail space at the new development at 1118-26 Chestnut St., which we first told you about on Wednesday. In the less than twenty-four hours since, we’ve heard from several people, telling us that our joke may not have been so far off from reality.

So many retail options

There have been rumblings for years about the possibility of Trader Joe’s opening a second Center City location. Their current location at 22nd & Market is on the small side, and it’s basically a war zone on weekends. Needless to say, residents on the east side of Center City would rejoice if they didn’t have to hike all the way across town to get their Trader Giotto’s tomato sauce or their Pilgrim Joe’s clam chowder. And while it’s apparently not yet a done deal, multiple sources are telling us that negotiations are ongoing for Trader Joe’s to be the tenant in the new bilevel retail space on the 1100 block of Chestnut. We do not have any confirmation from the developer at this time.

An alternative could soon emerge!

As huge as this project is for East Chestnut without a phenomenally exciting tenant, the addition of Trader Joe’s to the equation would take the project from a home run and turns it into a grand slam. Hopefully, this rumor has legs and Center City will indeed get a second Trader Joe’s in the near future. What could this do for retail on the surrounding blocks? Seriously, the sky’s the limit.