Sprouts Produces Good Results

At just a month old, the Sprouts Farmers Market has already attracted a loyal clientele by offering healthy foods at lower prices than traditional markets. But the question around town has been: How does it keep its prices so low? 

Sprouts President and Chief Operations Officer Doug Sanders' focuses his purchasing strategy around cost and quality, and credits his stores' buyers with keeping prices low through buying in bulk and West Coast sourcing.

And, depending on the season, expect to see apples from New Zealand or melons from Chile in order to keep customers' favorite produce on the shelves.

According to customer Janet Daviers, "I'm right to the moon with this. The food is great and the prices are better than at Trader Joe's or at Whole Paycheck."

The Culver City store, which took over the Circuit City space in late June, is a clean, well-lit venue offering a range of foods including fresh produce, fish and bag-it-yourself bulk bins of trail mix and granola. A fresh fish section is replenished six days a week. And, unlike conventional supermarkets, shelves are kept low for easy access.  

During a recent Patch visit, broccoli crowns were only 77 cents a pound, which is about half of the veggie's price at Ralphs. Organic bananas were also 77 cents a pound, less than the non-organic version at Vons.

Whole wheat bread is typically $3 to $4 for a pound-size loaf elsewhere, while Sprouts sells two pounds for $4.

Coffee prices are comparable to the best prices offered at other stores, but where else can you get lobster tails for $4.99 each?

Although the store has a heavy organic bent, Sanders recognizes that not everybody is interested in that so he stocks other options. As one example, Sprouts sells a dozen large eggs for 99 cents, while its organic eggs--from free-range, hormone-free hens on a 100 percent vegetarian organic diet--sell for $7 per 24.

According to one customer, Sprouts is also a good place to indulge. "Sprouts is much needed in Culver City. One of the people in our office introduced us to the store by sharing a tray of brownies bought here. Not only did they taste good, but contained only two grams of fat," said shopper Sarah Pynes.

In addition to local foods at low prices, sustainable energy is a part of the Sprouts corporate philosophy. The new store recently earned the first-ever Energy Efficiency Leader in Retail Grocery Award from Hussmann and Trane for its high-performance heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration systems.

The new store has also earned both a Green Shield and Silver LEED rating for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

Sanders explained that energy efficient design has been implemented over the past year in the five most recently constructed Sprouts stores. "It's more expensive, but will pay off in the long run," he said.

A Phoenix-based company, Sprouts Farmers Market is the third chain of markets  founded by the Boney family and remains privately held. Although Sprouts is only eight years old, it has already expanded to 51 stores. The company routinely donates food about to expire to the Phoenix Rescue Mission.

Last year was tough one for all businesses, Sanders said, particularly for a chain opening 20 stores in the last 13 months. However, by positioning itself in the natural foods arena as a source for value, the second quarter of 2010 was great for the store's profits. Since the Culver City store opened in June, business has "exceeded expectations," he said. 

Culver City's Sprouts Farmers Market is located at 5660 Sepulveda Blvd. on the East Side at Jefferson. It's open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and can be reached by phone at (310) 591-1028 or online at www.Sprouts.com