This is what will soon replace Trader Joe's in Bixby Knolls

When Trader Joe’s left its location on Atlantic Avenue in Bixby Knolls after 16 years, it left a big hole in the heart of the business district. The store’s opening in 2000 at 4121 Atlantic Ave. marked the genesis of the Knolls’ remarkable resurgence as one of the most iovative and active business districts in Long Beach.

Its closure wasn’t a disaster – it merely moved three blocks west to Long Beach Boulevard, where it is helping to anchor the spread of Atlantic’s success.

Now getting ready to claim the hot spot is Edgar & James, A Curated Collection By Goodwill. That is to say, Goodwill’s good stuff.

If you’re the type of shopper who enjoys pawing through the offerings of your regular Goodwill store – or the type of shopper who doesn’t want to bother with it – Edgar & James employees take on the task of finding the rare Coach bag amid the overused and battered purse that some donor found at the bottom of Grandma’s closet.

“These are items that are handpicked: designer clothing, housewares, collectibles, things you may not see in your typical Goodwill store,” says Goodwill spokesperson Paulette Thoton.

The upscale-sounding Edgar & James name derives from the name of Goodwill’s founder, Rev. Edgar James Helms, who opened his first second-hand shop in Boston in 1902.

The Long Beach store will be the second of the branded somewhat-tony shop in L.A. County. A Redondo Beach location opened in March.

“We carry items that are handpicked by our staff: clothing, housewares, collectibles, things you may not see in your typical Goodwill store,” says company spokesperson Paulette Thoton. “They’re certainly affordable, but slightly more expensive than what you’ll find in a regular Goodwill center.”

The Edgar & James store, which Thoton says is expected to open late this year or early 2017, will also include a Goodwill donation center, where people can drop off either E&J-worthy items or the usual things you want to jettison at spring-cleaning time (although not the stuff you really want to get rid of. Thoton quickly nixed our suggestion that we dump an old couch and a shoe in the alley behind the store).

The store will have a decidedly non-Goodwill appearance. “You won’t see the big blue ‘Goodwill’ sign in front,” says Thoton. “We’ve changed the font for Edgar & James and added the ampersand to make it look a little more classy.” The Redondo Beach store, she candidly admits, “has received a ton of support from the local community.”

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Impatient shoppers who want to see a sample of what’s coming can check out a pop-up version of Edgar & James at the next First Fridays in Bixby Knolls on Aug. 5.

Contact Tim Grobaty at 562-714-2116, [email protected], @Grobaty on Twitter.