After months of construction, the Staples-anchored strip mall at 1650 Garnet Ave. between Jewell and Ingraham streets is finally open.
Sort of.
The center unofficially reopened Aug. 31, when San Diego County Credit Union (SDCCU), which had been operating out of a trailer outside the mall construction site, moved into and began operating out of its new retail space in the rebuilt mall.
“Staples and Trader Joe’s should be open later in the month (September),” said Vicki Piazza, with the project’s architect Carrier Johnson. “PetSmart should be open in October.”
Piazza noted there are two other prospective tenants in the reconstituted mall who she said are “working their way (toward) signing leases, so they probably won’t be up and operational until early 2016.”
The architect said she didn’t know if a formal grand opening is planned for the mall, given the staggered tenant openings.
Alison Mochizuki, director of public relations for Trader Joe’s, confirmed that they are moving soon from their present location at 1211 Garnet Ave. to their new mall site a few blocks up the road at 1640 Garnet Ave.
“It has been our pleasure to serve the customers in the present location for nearly 29 years,” said Mochizuki. “We appreciate the welcome we received, and are hopeful that our loyal customers will continue to visit us in our new location.”
Mochizuki said the plan is for a “seamless transition” between stores. She said business will close for good at 9 p.m. at Trader Joe’s current site on Wednesday, Sept. 23. She said the new store, at its new location, will open at 8 a.m. on Thursday, Sept. 24.
Mochizuki noted parking is much better at the new site.
“The current center has 58 parking spaces,” she said, adding, “The new center has more than 300 spaces.”
Trader Joe’s has expanded to more than 400 stores in 40 states. The company, which began in 1958 as a chain of convenience stores in Southern California know as Pronto Markets, changed its name to Trader Joe’s in 1967.
Trader Joe’s started as a small chain of specialty cheese and wine shops. Over the past 40 years, it has evolved and grown into a national chain of neighborhood grocery stores. 
Trader Joe’s philosophy is to bring its customers the best food and beverage values and the information to make informed buying decisions. The chain now offers more than 3,000 unique grocery items under its label, grouped according to categories, like kosher or organic.
Two businesses previously in the mall, Empire Beauty Supply and Salon and Daisy Cleaners, moved months ago across the street to the property that once housed Pacific Coast Bicycles at 1637 Garnet Ave.
Piazza said the initial idea to keep half of the building space at the Staples mall and rebuild the other half had to be abandoned.
“The building, built in 1962, just wasn’t equipped to handle modern big-box retail,” Piazza said, adding the entirely new mall building is “rebuilt to almost the exact specifications of the older building but slightly smaller.”
Staples has said that its new rebuilt prototype store is as much as 2,000 feet smaller than its previous space.