Thousands of customers came through the College Park Trader Joe’s on Thursday, its opening day.

When the store opened at 8 a.m., there were already some 300 customers lined up outside, including students from the nearby University of Maryland, parents with young children and other residents.

Over a five-hour shift later in the day, a senior at UMD who works at the store estimated he saw more than 1,500 customers come through. He said many were fellow students excited to have a grocery store that’s a closer walk than the Whole Foods in Riverdale Park and less expensive.

The interior of the grocery store includes murals celebrating local landmarks, including campus buildings, a plane honoring the local College Park Airport, and Lake Artemesia. Loud music gave the place a vibrant atmosphere.

The 11,000-square-foot Trader Joe’s is the first in Prince George’s County and the latest grocery store along the Route 1 corridor to open in recent years, joining a 54,000-square-foot Safeway, a 40,000-square-foot Whole Foods, and a 36,000-square-foot Lidl.

The last Trader Joes to come to the greater D.C. area was a 15,000-square-foot store which opened near Union Market in 2018 and a second store in Bethesda that opened in March.

Trader Joe’s now has 20 locations in the greater D.C. area which includes the new College Park store.

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