Sprouts Farmers Market plans 10 new Florida stores, including in Brandon and Tampa
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Mar 5, 2021

Specialty grocer Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. is doubling down on the Sunshine State.

Phoenix-based Sprouts (NYSE: SFM) on Friday said it was planning 20 new locations across the U.S., 10 of which are in Florida. The new locations increase Sprouts' store count here by more than 40 percent. The grocer opened its first Florida store in 2018 in Carrollwood and has since grown to 23 locations. The expansion also includes a new produce distribution center in Orlando to support the growth.

Two of the 10 new stores are in the Tampa Bay region. One is in Lake Brandon Village, a shopping center off of Causeway Boulevard in Brandon. The other is in The Heights, the Armature Works-anchored mixed-use district near downtown Tampa.

Sprouts has emerged a winner in Florida's specialty grocer wars. Several new concepts entered the Florida market after Trader Joe's opened its first store here in 2012, though few have had success going head-to-head with Publix Super Markets Inc. in its home state. To stay competitive, Publix rolled out more prepared foods and organic items and even relaunched its specialty banner, GreenWise Market, in 2018. Lucky's Market and Earth Fare, both of which were aggressively expanding in Florida, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in early 2020.

Sprouts currently has 362 stores in 23 states. The grocer has a new, smaller prototype that's around 25,000 square feet.

“This year, Sprouts will densify its footprint with more stores opening in California, Florida and Texas,” Dave McGlinchey, Sprouts Chief Format Officer. “We’re excited to introduce our newest format in four stores in the second half of 2021 and plan to feature this format with even more stores next year, when we will be expanding at unit growth of 10% or more.”

Here's the complete list of stores Sprouts is able to confirm in Florida: