Diana Olken is a California paralegal, consumer activist and former school teacher looking to retire in Bluffton. She hopes to bring her favorite grocery store–Trader Joe’s–with her. Having regularly shopped the store at Chicago’s Lakeview location, I can relate to Olken’s passionate mission and I support her quest to bring a TJ’s to the Lowcountry.

Olken began her grassroots initiative, that has since caught the attention of the store’s management, by posting on Bluffton Today’s new blog site. Now, she’s carrying the torch even further by offering to fill mail order requests for Bluffton residents from her local California store. Since dry goods are one of the store’s strong points, this could be an attractive hold-over option (until TJ’s builds a store here).

In the meantime, World Market has a smattering of what one might find at Trader Joe’s, including craft beers and nice wines.