In downtown Tampa, the proof is in the grocery stores
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Sep 24, 2021

And then there were three.

Specialty grocer Sprouts Farmers Market will open its store in Tampa Heights on Oct. 27, becoming the third full-service grocer to open in downtown Tampa in just over two years. Publix Super Markets Inc. opened its Channel district store in late August 2019; its GreenWise Market banner opened a location in Water Street in August.

Downtown Tampa has been anchored by the office market for decades, and while that's still the case, those grocers' locations are an endorsement of ongoing revitalization efforts to transform the urban core into a vibrant, live-work-play neighborhood. And because grocers commit to long-term leases, it's also a sign that those companies foresee continued growth in the downtown core.

"They’re not going to take chances," said Mark Thompson, who owns GroceryAnchored.com, a real estate data company based in Orlando, "because you're talking about a 20-year lease."

Sprouts plans to hire 90 people for its new location in The Heights, the Armature Works-anchored, mixed-use district on the northern end of downtown Tampa. Phoenix-based Sprouts opened its first Florida location in Tampa's Carrollwood suburb in 2017, and by the end of 2021, it will have more than 30 stores in the Sunshine State.

With a focus on specialty foods and organic items, Sprouts caters to an affluent demographic. The company targets areas with household incomes of more than $100,000, Thompson said.

"When you think about the pockets across the country that mirror that household income, they’re fewer and farther between than what a Publix or Walmart requires," he said. "So they have to be more selective."

The three grocers in downtown Tampa are targeting a similar consumer, Thompson said: Those who might've otherwise gone to a restaurant or ordered takeout on their smartphone. Publix, GreenWise Market and Sprouts all have large prepared food departments, serving everything from vegan meals to pizzas and burrito bowls.

"They're going after that impulse, 8:30-at-night shopper," he said. "So they have to get closer to those population bases."