Trader Joe's, known for having devoted customers who come for its relatively low price and eclectic groceries, plans to open two dozen stores this year as it mounts a national expansion at a time of heightened competition.

The Monrovia, California-based chain, with 549 stores in 42 states and Washington, D.C., will be debuting another 24 locations across the country, according to company spokeswoman Nakia Rohde. Eight of those new stores are planned for Southern California.

"Since Trader Joe's began in 1967, we have been in growth mode," Rohde said in an email to CoStar News on Monday. "Our goal is always to bring delicious products at great value to as many people and neighborhoods as we can. The best way to do that is to open more stores."

The chain hasn't "established a timeline for these stores and the list could still grow this year," according to Rohde, who added, "We update our website as each new store is announced."

Founded in Pasadena, California, Trader Joe's has a reputation for offering a highly curated choice of produce, frozen meals, organic foods, vegetarian dishes, and wine and beer at affordable prices — appealing to some shoppers in today's era of elevated inflation. The supermarket chain carries a fraction of the items that a typical grocery store would. And a good portion of its products are private label, its own brand, which are priced at a significant discount to national labels.

The grocery sector, however, is an increasingly competitive arena for chains like Trader Joe's. Discount giant Walmart is expanding its grocery offerings, as is Target. German low-cost grocers Aldi and Lidl are increasing their U.S. footprints. And chains like Whole Foods Market, owned by e-commerce Goliath Amazon, and smaller companies like Sprouts Farmers Market, have organic fare and are growing.

One of Trader Joe's claims to fame is its "Two Buck Chuck." It started selling Charles Shaw wine, in red and white varieties, for only $1.99 a bottle in 2002. The price has increased since then, to $3.49, with some now dubbing it "Four Buck Chuck."

Trader Joe's has its loyal fans, Last month, it debuted a new store in San Francisco at 555 Fulton St. When the location opened at 9 a.m., there was a 10-minute line to get in, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Last month, the chain also opened a store at 500 Boylston St. in Boston's Back Bay section. That location and the new one in San Francisco are in addition to the 24 that Trader Joe's said are coming.

The slated new stores are:

• Chandler, 3961 S. Arizona Ave.

• Poway, 13644 Poway Road
• Santee, 9680 Mission Gorge Road
• Sherman Oaks, 14130 Riverside Drive
• Northridge, 922 Reseda Blvd.
• Ladera Ranch, 27542 Antonio Parkway
• Murrieta, 40388 Murrieta Hot Springs Road
• Santa Clarita, 19037 Golden Valley Road
• South Pasadena, 1129 Fair Oaks Ave.

• Palm Harbor, 33591 US Highway 19 N

• Sandy Springs, 4600 Roswell Road.

• Coeur d'Alene, 303 E. Spokane Ave.

• East Lansing, 2755 E. River Ave.

• Reno, 13945 S. Virginia St.
• Sparks, 185 Los Altos Parkway

• New York City, 123 W. 125th St.

• Raleigh, 8111 Creedmoor Road

• Milwaukie, 15574 SE McLoughlin Blvd.

• Mount Pleasant, 1909 Highway 17 N

• Coppell, 120 S. Denton Tap Road
• Sugar Land, 13550 University Blvd.

• Salt Lake City, 2160 S. 700 E

• Leesburg, 506 Fort Evans Road NE
• West Springfield, 8402 Old Keene Mill Road

A small town — Arnold, Maryland — recently got fooled, and one Trader Joe's fan was disappointed, in a recent prank about a purported store opening. A yellow banner that said "Coming Soon, Trader Joe's, Spring 2025" was posted along a road in a neighboring town in front of a vacant store.

Marlena Calobong, a loyal Trader Joe's customer, posted about it on social media and got many responses from people happy to hear the news, since the closest Trader Joe's store was a half hour away. But it turned out that the sign was a prank pulled off by local high school students, disappointing some area residents, according to a report by LiveNowFox.com.

"I think just everybody around this area loves Trader Joe's," Calobong told the news outlet. "I think everybody enjoyed the joke. We would have preferred it to be real, but it was a great joke."