{"id":389561,"date":"2026-09-03T19:58:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T19:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/389561\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T19:58:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T19:58:18","slug":"co-owner-of-armature-works-wants-to-bring-a-trader-joes-to-seminole-heights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/389561\/","title":{"rendered":"Co-owner of Armature Works wants to bring a Trader Joe’s to Seminole Heights"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The \u201cHey Joe\u201d sign at 305 W Hillsborough Ave. Credit: Hey Joe Tampa\/Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

One of Tampa\u2019s most prominent local developers wants to bring a popular, private-label, grocery store to his neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Armature Works co-owner Adam Harden is currently pushing to bring Trader Joe\u2019s fourth Tampa Bay location to Seminole Heights.<\/p>\n

It all started this summer with a mysterious \u201cHey Joe\u201d campaign<\/a>, which so far includes a dedicated website, social media posts<\/a> and even physical signage in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Yesterday, Harden told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that he\u2019s the person behind the effort.<\/p>\n

Harden and his kids, along with the local landscaping company J. Macias Tree Services, volunteered last Saturday to help put up a banner at the old Save A Lot location on Hillsborough Ave. <\/p>\n

The banner, showing a coyote playing guitar along with the phrase,\u201cHey Joe! Bring Trader Joe\u2019s to Seminole Heights,\u201d features a QR code linking to an online petition. <\/p>\n

Harden has not yet told CL how many people have signed on.<\/p>\n

The Save A Lot, located at 305 W Hillsborough Ave., closed last July. But Harden\u2019s AMH Family Holdings LLC, together with construction lawyer David Harper\u2019s Millers Marina Holdings LLC completed a $3.3 million purchase of the property last month, according to property records.<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardens\u2019s newly-formed Sustaining New Heights LLC owns the parcel.<\/p>\n

After speaking to the community, Hardens says the neighborhood chose a Trader Joe\u2019s. \u201cRather than quietly putting up a \u201cFor Lease\u201d sign, we wanted to ask the neighborhood what it wanted,\u201d Harden told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. \u201cThe response was immediate that people wanted another grocery store, and Trader Joe\u2019s was overwhelmingly the name we kept hearing.\u201d<\/p>\n

For decades, the former Save A Lot location has hosted various, now shuttered grocery stores, which is why Harden feels the 14,500-square-foot property is ideal for a TJ\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying to preserve the 65-year grocery store that\u2019s been at the edge of our neighborhood,\u201d Harden said. \u201cIt opened in 1960 as a Carnival Food and was changed into a Kash n\u2019 Karry in 1963, and later became a Save A Lot. Understanding that it was going vacant, we thought it was important that our neighborhood maintain a grocery store.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about the joke that a Trader Joe\u2019s is the final gentrification boss for a neighborhood, Harden called BS.<\/p>\n

Seminole Heights, he said, has produced some of the city\u2019s most notable citizens, including mayors and the principal people who have buildings named after them on Franklin Street and Ybor City.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we try to focus on quality urban development, and in this instance, it\u2019s four blocks from my house,\u201d Harden said. \u201cThe nature, the brand of the grocery store, it\u2019s going to save a 65-year-old grocery store location is gentrification? I just disagree with that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harden, who loves the teeny tiny avocados and seeded bread at TJs, also said that if Trader Joe\u2019s doesn\u2019t end up choosing to lease the location, he will look to other grocery stores.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we are unable to get Trader Joe\u2019s attention, then we would need to move on and look at other grocers that are active in the market,\u201d said Harden.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The location would be within six miles of another `Trader Joe\u2019s location at 3808 W Swann Ave. in South Tampa.<\/p>\n

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This article appears in August 27 \u2013 September 02, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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