Yumans still long for Trader Joe's, have long list of other stores they wish for

Dear Santa:

Hope runs eternal in Yuma for a Trader Joe's or Costco and people here would still be delighted and ever so grateful if you could pull either one out of your bag for us.

“Trader Joe's! Trader Joe's! Trader Joe's!,” wrote Bethany. “I stock up when I go out of town and would love to have one here! I love the organic selections and the healthier choices! Please make my Christmas wish come true!”

Maureen and Lee M. have the same wish. “Trader Joe's is No. 1 on our list. We keep a list to shop there in Phoenix or San Diego whenever we go there. So many Yumans do the same thing. Surely this town can support a Trader Joe's.”

Melissa S. wrote: “I am a vegan, excuse me, a struggling-to-be-vegan vegan, and here in Yuma it is extremely difficult and often impossible to get my grocery needs met. I spend a lot of money on shipping charges buying from online vegan stores because there isn't anywhere here to get the products I need.”

Janelle P. has an even more compelling reason. “I have several food allergies and they are the only 'one shopping' for the food I need. I am tired of traveling three hours to go to one.”

Betty B. pledged to never stop her quest for a Trader Joe's in Yuma. “I once heard we did not fit their demographic because we had too few college graduates. No one ever asked me. I have a master's degree and I would shop a lot at a Trader Joe's.”

As for Costco, members say they're tired of having to drive to El Centro to shop that store.

Bob and Barbara G. wrote: “We make at least one trip a month to El Centro to get our ‘Costco fix' and we know many others who do the same.”

Added Steve B. from Tacna: “I feel we need a Costco. I know in the summer they wouldn't have the volume they normally like, but some of their (business) could be made up of seasonals from the northern stores here to take in the sun during the winter.”

Lots of others, though, are just looking for healthier food choices for their family and would settle for a Whole Foods or Sprouts Farmers Market, or even a Fresh ‘n Easy with its selection of fresh and prepared foods.

Several wished for a Winco's grocery store. Wrote: Jan P.: “The store I miss the most when spending winters in Yuma is Winco Foods. I love their ‘bulk' items where you can purchase just the amount you want of spices, nuts, grains, dried fruits, flour, sugar, cereals, even pet foods! They are such a wonderful store.”

Observed Francisco: “I would vote for a Sprouts/Wild Oats type. I think these stores are much better than Trader Joe's that some Yumans seem a little too obsessed over. And what better place to put one of these stores than in the old Fry's shopping center (in the Foothills)?”

That empty store bothers a lot of Foothills resident and visitors, who think an Albertson's would be nice there. Or something.

Perhaps a movie theater that would play second-run movies, suggested Diana P., or as Penny T. suggested, a TJMaxx or Ross or Marshalls in the vacant store.

Once again eating out was on a lot of people's minds.

Karen K. wrote that her wish is for “nice sit-down restaurants on the west side of town. Hum, how about Marie Calendars? Cheesecake Factory? Claim Jumper? Ruby Tuesday? TGIFriday?”

Lee Gibbs said he ate at the Original Pancake House in Anaheim, Calif., a couple of years ago and was hooked. “They were the best pancakes I had eaten in many years. The baked apple pancake is to die for.”

Sam, a snowbird from Washington, said he and his wife love most of the restaurants in Yuma, “but we truly miss one of our all time favorites — Red Robin.”

Once again there several votes for a Soup Plantation or Sweet Tomatoes, or some other salad and soup restaurant.

After all, observed Bob and Sally H: “Since this area is considered the salad bowl of the U.S., and their delivery trucks travel I-8 from Phoenix to San Diego, it would be a natural fit.”

And of course, several people wondered if Chick-fil-A ever will get around to building the restaurant in Yuma that has been in the works for some time.

The taller ladies would like a tall/long section for women in local clothing retailers. Wrote Margie P. “So many clothiers have a hit-or-miss (if any) selection in Tall/Long. Not everyone is under 5' 6”, nor does letting the hems down suffice. I was snippy with a sales clerk at a local store when she told me that Tall/Long sizes were available through their catalog. My reply, ‘what if I want to wear it tonight or tomorrow?' The stores all carry Juniors, Women's and Petites but no Tall/Longs!”

Local artists, crafts people and hobbyists continue to long for a Hobby Lobby.

Wrote Stephanie M.: “My coworkers, friends and I would like to express our intense desire to have Hobby Lobby come to Yuma. There are plenty of available spaces and plenty of crafty people here to make it worth their while, even during the summer. If Lake Havasu can support a Hobby Lobby, there is every reason to believe that Yuma would also be a profitable location.”

There were lots of other “wishes” as well, from PF Changs and Pei Wei to Stein Mart or even an Ikea, and Tim Horton's for the Canadians — and way too many other retailers and restaurants to mention in one letter.

Among them were a variety of businesses, mostly restaurants, that have been in Yuma and left and now are showing up on people's wish lists.

Take Cathi's list. She misses El Pollo Loco and hates driving to El Centro to eat there. She also misses Safeway and Kmart.

Nelda misses Popeye's fried chicken and biscuits, and Mary S. would love to see Tutor's Beanery back in business.

Mary Ann wants a new larger YMCA with more activities and a larger parking lot. That's one wish I know will get granted in the coming year.