BELLAIRE, Texas – (Realty News Report) – Trader Joe’s is coming to Bellaire as part of a redevelopment of the former Randalls-anchored shopping center in the city’s town center. The mid-century building, which originally housed a Weingarten’s grocery, has been vacant since Randalls left in 2021.
“The City of Bellaire is excited to announce that Trader Joe’s has officially confirmed plans to open a new store in Bellaire!” according to a post on the City of Bellaire Facebook page Tuesday.
“Redevelopment of the Bellaire Boulevard Shopping Center, located at 5130 Bellaire Blvd. will begin soon. This highly anticipated addition to our community will bring a unique grocery shopping experience and further enhance the vibrant retail landscape of Bellaire,” the City of Bellaire said. “We look forward to welcoming Trader Joe’s and will share updates as the project progresses.”
Trader Joe’s has been on an expansion spree, with a Kingwood store among its latest openings. The Cypress store in the Towne Lake community on Houston’s northwest side will be the Houston region’s eighth Trader Joe’s upon opening in the coming days.
The Bellaire site, which was recently proposed as three-story medical building for Methodist Hospital, has frontage on Bellaire Boulevard, Bissonnet, and South Rice Avenue. It is across from the first two-story H-E-B to open in the Houston area just outside Loop 610.
Bellaire citizens had opposed the Methodist proposal, which was not considered appropriate for the Randall’s property – the key remaining available site for Bellaire’s downtown. The community’s network of large arterials and the diagonal route of Bissonnet Street have chopped up the city downtown’s land, making every development critical as downtown plans are considered at City Hall.
The city has considered concepts to create a more walkable shopping environment in its downtown, which is about a half-mile west of Loop 610. Vocal citizen opposition against new multifamily has thwarted any move to enhance downtown density and retail viability by constructing multi-story, mixed-use buildings with condos or apartments stacked above street-level retail.
The future Trader Joe’s Bellaire site is owned by Kimco, a real estate investment trust based in New York. Kimco gained the Bellaire center through its merger with Houston-based Weingarten Realty Investors. The mid-century design of the original 1960-vintage Bellaire Weingarten’s store was obliterated in an unfortunate remodeling job, but the A-line roof could be restored to enhance the appeal of the cornerstone property.
Kimco has been redeveloping and repositioning older properties. The New York-based real estate company recently replaced a 40,000-SF former Stein Mart with three tenants including Trader Joe’s in Poway, Calif.
Trader Joe’s has more than 600 stores, including 26 in Texas, according to the company’s website. The company opened its first Texas stores in 2012 and its Texas roll-out has proceeded slowly.
Even with the recent expansion, Trader Joe’s still has less than 10 stores in the Houston area, which has a population of 7.5 million and could potentially absorb dozens of new stores.
Currently the closest Trader Joe’s to the Bellaire location is the Trader Joe’s in the former Alabama Theater on Shepherd Drive. A frequent shopper says the Shepherd store, which opened in 2012, is often very crowded and the check-out line often snakes around through the store space.
Dec. 16, 2025 Realty News Report Copyright 2025
Caption: Bellaire Trader Joe’s location. Photo by Realty News Report, Copyright 2025
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File: Trader Joe’s to Open in Bellaire