It’s a cloudy Sunday at the beginning of March, and The Avenue, Peachtree City’s main shopping area, starts to come to life. Over the course of an hour, the crowds gradually grow, including elders pushing shopping carts, parents with young kids, couples looking over the plants display outside the store.
One of the most popular stores, Trader Joe’s, opened on Oct. 27, and even in the leadup to opening, Avenue shoppers had concerns about parking and traffic overflow.
“[The Avenue has] always been congested with parking,” Trader Joe’s shopper Julia Reta said.
Other shoppers agreed.
“[The parking] was already bad and Trader Joe’s blocking off some stuff has made it even worse,” Avenue shopper William Thomas said.
The Avenue’s parking lots are packed every day of the week, and today is no exception. Trader Joe’s has attracted a new crowd of shoppers to the popular area. What was an outdoor mall now has people going there weekly, or even multiple days a week, to get groceries. People come from all over to shop at the only Trader Joe’s on the southside of Atlanta.
“I’m in the plaza probably two or three times a week. [Trader Joe’s] is good for the jobs here, but not good for people going to other shops. [There’s] a lot of gridlock and transportation issues,” Avenue shopper Christian Cruz said.
Once Trader Joe’s opened, even with the side lot, shoppers still struggle to find a parking space.
“I got lucky today with parking. I usually have to walk a long ways away,” one Trader Joe’s shopper, who asked not to be identified, said.
Having to deal with a lack of parking on an occasional visit to the Avenue may not be too bad, but when shoppers visit weekly to pick up groceries it becomes more difficult.
“You [have to] be strategic when you come, but I think that that’s an unfortunate thing to consider when you just need to pick up some groceries. I don’t do all of my shopping here. I just pick up specialty items. [I come to Trader Joe’s] between once a week and twice a week sometimes,” Trader Joe’s shopper Avery Lain said.
One main area of concern among employees and customers has been the intersection directly outside of Trader Joe’s. It’s not only an area of frequent traffic, but pedestrians cross that street to navigate from their cars to the stores.
“Traffic has been absolutely interesting because people are trying to get out as well as trying to park. There isn’t even a crosswalk [near Trader Joe’s], so it’s very dangerous for people to cross,” an employee who has been working in the Avenue since October 2025 said. “[The intersection near Trader Joe’s] is very dangerous, so you have to look both ways and accidents can happen.”
Some shoppers, though, don’t mind the congestion or the traffic.
“I haven’t had a problem with parking here at all. I come here every two weeks. My daughter works at Hobnob so I come [to The Avenue] often,” Peachtree City resident Ginger Charles said. “I usually come after church on Sundays.”
Sandra • Mar 14, 2026 at 9:12 pm
Every time I have been to the Avenue I have had no problem parking fairly close to whatever store I’m going to. Usually shop near Chicos, Trader Joe’s and Ted’s.