A brand-spanking-new Trader Joe’s is opening in Bellingham at the end of this month, but will that be enough for B.C. residents to put aside their hesitation about U.S. travel?
The new location officially opens on May 29 at 8 a.m. after some fanfare and a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 7:55 a.m.
We first learned about the new Trader Joe’s last November, and that it would have a huge parking lot. That was notable since the parking lot at the other Bellingham Trader Joe’s isn’t the best.
This new location marks Bellingham’s second Trader Joe’s. Google Maps suggests it’s a bit closer to central Vancouver than the original James Street one you’re probably used to.
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The new location
Google Maps
The new Trader Joe’s is taking the spot of a former Bed Bath & Beyond store at 4255 Meridian St., so there will be a sizeable parking lot. If you’ve visited the James Street location, you might’ve encountered parking congestion issues, which won’t be a massive issue at the new location.
“The Crew has designed the store to immerse you in a Pacific Northwest experience at Trader Joe’s, like an outdoor excursion paired with great food and beverages,” Trader Joe’s said in a press release.
It also revealed some details on the hiring process.
“As a neighbourhood grocery store, Trader Joe’s prides itself on hiring from the local community. The store hired more than thirty new Crew Members from surrounding areas and transferred in others from neighbouring Trader Joe’s stores.”
So complicated
David Buzzard/ Shutterstock
After our original story about the new location, many comments surfaced, and there was some back-and-forth between B.C. and Bellingham residents.
“This is great news! I’m sorry the folks in Bellingham are annoyed by us, but we spend a lot of $$ there,” one Daily Hive reader said.
A more recent comment on that article reads, “Tariffs, trade war, a bad exchange rate, and anti-U.S. sentiment by Canadians will not be good for this store.”
Since Donald Trump was elected president and trade war tensions emerged, some residents have been conflicted about travelling to the U.S., with many pausing cross-border travel altogether. We’ve covered numerous stories about the stark drop in travellers from B.C. to Washington and Canada to America.
In February 2025, daily southbound traffic was around 3,500 vehicles, down from around 5,000 in February 2024. In March 2025, compared to last year, the number of folks who crossed over into Washington from B.C. was almost halved.
We covered an angle suggesting that even some Americans were weary of crossing the border to return to America after visiting Canada.
For Canadians, like Avril Lavigne, politics have made things so complicated. Thanks to readers’ comments, we learned that not everyone cares about the political tensions when considering travelling to the States. Unsurprisingly, many still travel that way.
In a story we published about a Canadian resident feeling unwelcome in the U.S. on her last trip, many commented that they’ve had no issues and don’t plan on stopping.
One commenter said, “I travel weekly through Peace Arch via the Nexus and have had no issues either way.”
We have seen similar sentiments from Canadians on the Bellingham subreddit.
But we’ll turn the question over to you. Are you excited about this new Trader Joe’s, and will you be heading down for it? Are you going to change your habits for the sake of this new Trader Joe’s location? If you are commenting, we’d love for you to indicate whether or not you’ve stopped travelling to the U.S. before this due to the political tensions between the two nations.