Sprouts Farmers Market confirms Tampa Heights store
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Aug 4, 2020

Sprouts Farmers Market has confirmed it will open a store in Tampa Heights next year.

The Phoenix-based specialty grocer disclosed few details on the new store besides the 2021 opening date. Plans for a Sprouts location in The Heights first went public in July 2019 when the grocer was disclosed on a site plan filed with the city.

Sprouts (NASDAQ: SFM) opened its first store in Florida in Carrollwood in 2017 and has since opened stores in South Tampa and Valrico. It will open a New Tampa store on Aug. 12 and says construction should soon be complete on a new location in Westchase. It has 19 stores throughout Florida.

Landing a grocer is a major win for the developers of The Heights, which includes the mixed-use historic Armature Works building as well as office complex Heights Union and a forthcoming Moxie Hotel. Grocers are a focus for mixed-use developers; Water Street Tampa will include GreenWise Market, Publix Super Markets Inc.'s specialty banner, and Midtown Tampa will include Whole Foods Market, which is relocating from a nearby shopping center.

Grocers, especially those in the specialty category like Sprouts, draw regular foot traffic to mixed-use developments. The new Sprouts is also an endorsement of the surrounding neighborhood, which has flourished since Armature Works opened in 2018.

A representative from The Heights ownership was not immediately available for comment Tuesday.