After being among the many businesses to sustain flood damage at Eastgate Crossing in July, the Chapel Hill Trader Joe’s store is officially open again as of Monday afternoon.

A Kite Realty spokesperson, who manages the shopping center, confirmed the opening to Chapelboro on Monday, with the doors re-opened to a handful of excited customers at 4 p.m. The popular grocery store chain had been closed since July 7 — the day after historic flooding from Tropical Depression Chantal’s rains filled the parking lot and businesses at Eastgate Crossing.

Right on the dot at 4 p.m., both shoppers and workers began to congregate at the store’s sliding doors. Customers cheered as they grabbed their shopping carts. Employees who may not have seen one another for over a month hugged and high-fived one another as they prepared for their first shift since Chantal. The energy at the impromptu reopening was one of jubilation, excitement, and even relief.

Trader Joe’s becomes the latest business in the flood-impacted area to reopen, joining chains like Chipotle, T-Mobile and Chopt on the east side of the mall that suffered less damage thanks to their elevation. The Chapel Hill location is the fourth Triangle-area Trader Joe’s store, but the only one in Orange County.

Although the store is once again open for business, Eastgate Crossing still has more work to be done. Most nearby businesses are still being cleaned or are boarded up entirely. There is still caution tape up around specific areas that are covered in debris. Trailers filled with wreckage and remediation supplies litter the parts of the parking lot still inaccessible to shoppers.

Because of ongoing remediation and renovation work to other businesses, the Eastgate Crossing shopping center can only be accessed by vehicle off its Fordham Boulevard/U.S. 15-501 entrance.

Trader Joe’s is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

Featured image via Chapel Hill Media Group/Henry Taylor

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