Video and pictures were taken at the inaugural kickoff for a campaign to bring Trader Joe’s to Turlock that took place on May 22, 2010 in the parking lot of the Trader Joe’s in Modesto.
People from the Turlock area went wearing their favorite Hawaiian shirts and were welcomed with a lei. People went and shopped along with others from the Turlock area as they made their voices heard …”we need a Trader Joe’s in Turlock!”
Nellie Lazar, Councilwoman Mary Jackson, and Axel Gomez have helped organize the community effort to lobby Trader Joe’s about opening a store location here in Turlock.
As the City of Turlock is continuing to see a decline in revenue, an increase in closing businesses, and trying to figure out how to stay business development friendly with a minimal budget, some Turlock citizens and leaders are doing more than just presenting hopeful future Turlock businesses with demographics and statistics.
Councilwoman Mary Jackson video recorded people’s testimonies and requests to bring Trader Joe’s to Turlock while gathering at the campaign kickoff. Pictures were also taken of shoppers and supporters, including Mayor John Lazar who can now be seen making his statement to Trader Joe’s about why the business should open up shop in Turlock.
One of the first movements in organizing community support for a campaign was found on facebook.com where a “Bring Trader Joe’s to Turlock, CA!” group was formed and administered by Nellie Lazar. The group is now just over 1,000 members strong.
Just recently Axel Gomez had www.bringtraderjoes.com created to come up in internet search results, provide information on the campaign, link to the request Trader Joe’s location form, and allow visitors to interact in the campaign to bring Trader Joe’s to Turlock.
The Turlock community is encouraged to visit www.bringtraderjoes.com for more information, to submit their top 10 reasons why Trader Joe’s should come to Turlock, to link to the request location form, or to contact the community group at: info@bringtraderjoestoturlock.com.
More updates on the progress to Bring Trader Joe’s to Turlock will follow shortly, stay posted here.