Trader Joe’s will test durability of Boulder natural-foods grocers

Time will tell whether what some have described as the most-competitive natural-grocery market in the nation – Boulder – can handle one more competitor. Monrovia, California-based Trader Joe’s has filed paperwork with the Colorado Secretary of State to begin doing business in the state, and many believe that one of its first stores will be in Boulder.

Trader Joe’s will join a natural-foods market that already includes multiple Whole Foods stores, as well as Natural Grocer by Vitamin Cottage, Lucky’s Market, Sprouts and Sunflower. Additionally, last year saw the revival of longtime Boulder brand Alfalfa’s at Broadway and Arapahoe Avenue.

Those stores…