The days of Boulder-area residents pining for a Trader Joe’s appear to be over.

The Monrovia, Calif., specialty grocer that has gained a cult-like following for its cheap wine and unique and natural foods, plans to open stores in Colorado this year — and sources say one of those is expected to be in Boulder. It will “most likely” be at the Twenty Ninth Street mall, according to one source close to the situation.

Trader Joe’s filed documents Monday registering the business name with the Colorado Secretary of State. According to state records, Trader Joe’s expects to begin “transacting business or conducting activities” in Colorado by April 1.

Trader Joe’s spokeswoman Alison Mochizuki declined to comment about the filing.

“We don’t have anything to confirm,” Mochizuki said.

JT Fulton, Twenty Ninth Street’s property manager, also declined to comment.

Trader Joe’s also appears to have Denver in its sights. The Denver Business Journal, citing unnamed sources, reported Wednesday evening that the grocer has signed contracts to lease at least three locations in metro Denver.

Trader Joe’s has long sat atop Boulder residents’ wish lists.

In 2004, when the city took public comments on plans to redevelop Crossroads Mall — plans that eventually led to the development of Twenty Ninth Street — many residents said they wanted a Trader Joe’s and Swedish furniture retailer IKEA, which opened its first Colorado location last year in Centennial.

“(Trader Joe’s) was one of the top retailers that has been requested,” said Liz Hanson, the city’s economic vitality coordinator.

Facebook pages such as “Coloradoans for Trader Joe’s” and “Bring Trader Joe’s to Boulder” have been created in recent years, and an online petition called “Bring Trader Joe’s To Denver” has 4,244 signatures.

Trader Joe’s would fit nicely in the natural foods-focused hub of Boulder, said Sean Maher, a longtime local businessman and executive director of Downtown Boulder Inc.

The city is home to a variety of natural grocery stores including three Whole Foods stores, a top-performing Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage location, Alfalfa’s Market, Sunflower Farmers Market and Sprouts Farmers Market. Additionally, chains such as Safeway and King Soopers have overhauled their Boulder stores to add expanded natural and organic sections.

“Our demographics are a perfect fit for Trader Joe’s — just look at the concentration we have,” he said. “There doesn’t seem to be any limit for Boulder’s appetite.”

In past years, whenever rumors have swirled about a Trader Joe’s opening in Boulder, the grocer’s Mochizuki told the Camera that neither Colorado nor Boulder was in Trader Joe’s “two-year plan.”

Trader Joe’s carries inexpensive wines such as the popular “Two Buck Chuck” in some of its 365 stores. It also operates stores where no beer or wine is sold.

The most popular theory — and one cited by Crossroads Mall owner Macerich in 2004 — for Trader Joe’s absence from Colorado has been the state’s liquor laws, which allow chain stores and grocery retailers to sell beer less than 3.2 percent alcohol by weight but limit grocers to just one full-strength liquor license for the whole chain.

Some chains and groceries have sold full-strength beer and alcohol by applying for a retail liquor store license — which has limitations including no food sales, separate hours and a separate entrance — or applying for a liquor-licensed drugstore designation.

When the new Alfalfa’s Market opened its first store in western Boulder last year, it became the first grocery store in the city to sell full-strength alcohol. Also last year, Whole Foods Market acquired Ace Wine & Spirits — the liquor store that neighbored Whole Foods’ Pearl Street store — to move its one liquor-licensed location to Boulder.

Mark Retzloff, founder of Alfalfa’s Market, said he’s heard the “distant drums beating” about Trader Joe’s for months and that he is not too concerned about the potential effect of another competitor.

“Frankly, Boulder is probably the most competitive market for food retailing in the United States,” he said. “For the size of this town, it really becomes about the neighborhood-type of stores.

“There’s a lot of other stores closer to (Twenty Ninth Street). We’re finding that over the last year, the vast majority of our customers are from our neighborhood, probably Folsom (Street) to the west.”

Contact Camera Business Writer Alicia Wallace at 303-473-1332 or wallacea@dailycamera.com.