Trader Joe’s will close at 9 p.m. instead of 10 p.m. starting March 4. 

This adjustment will allow more time for employees to prepare the store and better support customers during open hours, according to a statement to the Daily Trojan from Trader Joe’s public relations manager Nakia Rohde. The change will align the USC Village Trader Joe’s with other locations in the area. 

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Josephine Crosthwait, a freshman majoring in neuroscience, said the earlier closing time would make it harder for her to access food at night.

“10 p.m. is also when the dining hall closes, so it’s nice [to go to Trader Joe’s] if I’m coming back from activities late,” Crosthwait said. “Now with Trader Joe’s closing even earlier, it’s less flexible than before.”

Trader Joe’s is one of the two grocery stores located in USC Village. Target, which is located next to Trader Joe’s, will remain open until 10 p.m.

There are two other off-campus grocery stores in the Fryft zone: Smart & Final, which closes at 10 p.m., and Ralph’s, which closes at 1 a.m. Both of these grocery stores accept CalFresh benefits.

While there are still other grocery stores available after 9 p.m., the shift in closing time at Trader Joe’s represents a decrease in food access for the community, especially for students and those who rely on CalFresh. 

Lance Garcia, a freshman majoring in computer science, said he tends to grocery shop later in the day to avoid the crowds. 

“Usually I go at least twice a week. I always try to stagger it so I don’t go when there are too many people. I’d say [I shop at] the beginning of the week … and then in the middle of the week when I just need to pick something up. It’ll probably be later in the day, like 9 p.m. to 10 p.m.. But now it’s going to close earlier, so I’d have to change that,” Garcia said. “Kind of sucks that they’re closing earlier, but at least they still open at 8 a.m.” 

Hsueh-Yin Chiang, a graduate student studying financial engineering, isn’t expecting to be affected by the change in hours.  

“I don’t usually shop at Trader Joe’s,” Chiang said. “I don’t think it would have much influence on me, but for the students living on campus it might cause some inconvenience.”

For Garcia, who relies on the store to buy food late at night, the earlier closure will create a new burden.

“It kind of sucks, because I go there late, usually on Thursdays and Fridays with my roommates,” Garcia said. “We buy drinks — lemonade, water. It’s a pretty good one-stop shop to get anything.”