Trader Joe’s coming to Johns Creek’s Medley mixed-use center

Trader Joe’s is moving into Johns Creek’s Medley mixed-use center at 1000 Medley Boulevard, and the location should matter well beyond one new grocery stop. Sitting near Medlock Bridge Road and McGinnis Ferry Road, the store gives one of north metro Atlanta’s most visible new development sites a nationally known anchor and could pull weekly shopping trips from Johns Creek, south Forsyth and the Ga. 141 corridor.

City Economic Development Director Kim Allonce said the store was expected to open before Medley is fully completed in the fall, which would make Trader Joe’s one of the project’s early draws. That timing gives Medley an immediate retail credential at a point when developers and city officials are still building out the broader district around it.

Trader Joe’s has been transforming grocery shopping since 1967 and now operates in more than 40 states. In Georgia, the chain already has stores in Buckhead/Atlanta, Alpharetta, Athens, Marietta, Norcross, Peachtree City, Roswell and Sandy Springs, a footprint that shows how firmly the brand has already settled into metro Atlanta’s highest-growth suburbs. The company’s store-request system, which lets shoppers suggest a city, also underscores how demand-driven its expansion is.

Medley is much larger than a single grocery pad. The City of Johns Creek says the 43-acre project is under construction and will include 150,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space, a 175-key boutique hotel, 110,000 square feet of lifestyle office, 750 multifamily residences, 133 townhomes and a 25,000-square-foot plaza. Johns Creek approved the zoning on Dec. 12, 2022, and city records originally described the project as a $350 million development before later estimates placed it closer to $560 million. The city has said Medley’s grand opening is slated for Oct. 29, 2026.

That scale matters because Johns Creek has framed its Town Center as a 192-acre redevelopment zone, not a single project. The Boardwalk at Town Center is already open behind City Hall, adding a public-facing amenity that helps support restaurants, retail and foot traffic in the area. Medley, with Trader Joe’s in the mix, pushes that vision closer to the kind of self-contained shopping district that can keep more errands inside Johns Creek instead of sending residents to other parts of the region.

For nearby shoppers, the most immediate effect will be convenience. For nearby retailers, it is a sign that a high-demand grocer sees enough spending power in north Fulton and adjacent Forsyth County neighborhoods to plant a flag in one of the area’s busiest growth corridors.