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TRADER ‘INVADER’

Manhattan grocer Gristedes is shamelessly trying to steal Trader Joe’s customers with a cheap crosstown “knock-off” dubbed Trader John’s, the popular chain charges in a federal lawsuit filed yesterday.

Trader John’s is slated to open next week just three blocks away from the always-packed Trader Joe’s near Union Square – and the copycat store is accused of mimicking its distinctive decorating schemes.

Gristedes “gutted, renovated and renamed and redecorated to make it appear more similar to Trader Joe’s,” the Monrovia, Calif.-based company charged in court papers, which seek a cease-and-desist order.

The Manhattan federal court suit cites several snarky blog comments attacking the plan, along with photos secretly snapped inside the store at 5 W. 14th St., which would replace a recently closed Gristedes.

“LOL . . . Reminds me of the Simpsons episode when their [sic] TV breaks and they are looking to replace it with a cheap knock off brand, such as Sorny or Panaphonics or Magnetbox,” wrote a user whose post at the Serious Eats blog is attached to the suit.

The 51-page complaint also quotes online critics who called the former Gristedes at the site “especially crappy” and “one of the filthiest of all the filthy, overpriced Gristedes.”

The “low quality” of that store, the suit says, makes “its attempted passing off as a Trader Joe’s even more harmful by diluting and tarnishing of the Trader Joe’s trademarks.”

At Trader Joe’s yesterday, loyal customers said they would never be taken in by the competition.

“I’m dedicated,” said movie projectionist Paul Demps, 41, who was hauling four bags of groceries. “I come all the way from The Bronx to shop here.”

Kasey Van Hise of Manhattan, a 24-year-old student, called the situation “ridiculous.”

“I don’t know what they think they’re pulling off,” she said.

A Trader Joe’s worker on a cigarette break said he wasn’t worried because “I don’t think they can compete.”

Workers at Trader John’s, meanwhile, were tight-lipped as they stocked the shelves, escorting out curious visitors who wandered in through the store’s automatic door.

Gristedes owner and mayoral hopeful John Catsimatidis didn’t return a call, but a spokesman said that “we haven’t done anything wrong.”

Spokesman Gerald McKelvey said Trader John’s, which opens Thursday, is a prototype “to see if we can sell groceries less expensively.”

“John came up with the idea,” McKelvey said. “His name is John, and he has been in trade all his life.”

bruce.golding@nypost.com