Trader Joe’s has announced three new Texas stores, and one of them lands considerably closer to home than usual. Mansfield is on the list, along with Bellaire near Houston and Cedar Park outside Austin, with all three expected to open sometime in 2027. The Mansfield location on East Debbie Lane puts the nearest Trader Joe’s roughly half an hour up I-35E from Waxahachie, a big improvement over the drive to Dallas or Fort Worth.

The Texas stores are part of a broader expansion of about thirty locations across sixteen states, bringing the chain to roughly 660 stores nationwide. Trader Joe’s has always grown deliberately, picking markets where demand and demographics line up, and North Texas keeps checking those boxes as towns like Mansfield and Waxahachie fill in along the interstate corridor.

For Ellis County shoppers, the news is a mix of excitement and mild frustration. A closer store means easier access to the chain’s private-label favorites, from cookie butter to frozen dumplings, but Waxahachie itself didn’t make the cut this round. Exact opening dates haven’t been announced, so there’s still time to make your voice heard. Where would you put the next Texas Trader Joe’s if you were in charge?