KCTV 5Excited customers wait in line for hours for Trader Joe's debut

Excited customers lined up for hours Friday morning before two Trader Joe's opened in the area.

Trader's Joe is a specialty grocery store that has attracted a near cult following. Before the stores opened in Kansas City, some area residents had arranged to get groceries trucked in from a St. Louis area store.

Melba Mueller was one of those who would get her Trader Joe's groceries from St. Louis. She lined up at 4 a.m. Friday so she could be one of the first customers inside the store at 8600 Ward Parkway in Kansas City.

"It offers great prices and great finds. It is like a treasure hunt," Mueller said. "It is really good prices."

Mueller said she also enjoys the organic foods.

The second store is at Leawood's One Nineteen at 119th Street and Roe Avenue. The Kansas City store is about 14,000 square feet and the Leawood store is about 12,000 square feet.

A Facebook fan group had more than 8,000 members pleading that a Kansas City area store open when the company finally announced last year it was opening the stores.

Besides the prices, Trader Joe's fans rave about the high quality food and drinks, which the company says range "from the exotic to the basic." The store opened in 1958 as Pronto's Markets. The company changed the name to Trader Joe's in honor of the founder in 1967.

The California-based company has more than 300 stores across the United States. Employees wear brightly colored Hawaiian-themed shirts.

Besides milk and eggs, the company offers freshly baked artisan breads, Arabica bean coffees, international frozen entrees, juices, nuts and deli items.

The stores opened at 8 a.m. Friday.