Sprouts Farmers Market is continuing its full-steam-ahead expansion strategy, with roughly 30 store openings slated for 2023. As the Arizona-based specialty grocer works its way up the East Coast, a new store in Manassas, Virginia, serves up the latest example of how the grocer is using its new small format to appeal to shoppers. 

The new store, which opened on May 12, is decked out with the new Sprouts logo, updated decor and signage, more accessible displays and expanded sections as well as traditional offerings Sprouts shoppers seek out. The location is only the second Sprouts market in the state.

“A lot of folks on the East Coast obviously don't even know about us because we haven’t really been working our way up,” Lauren Frank, Sprouts’ public relations manager. said during a tour of the store earlier this month. “But we are starting to infiltrate [further North] as we are here in Manassas.”

The new store model averages 23,000 square feet compared to the company’s traditional 30,000-square-foot layout. It improves Sprouts’ box economics, brings in higher margins, lowers labor costs and cuts construction costs by 20% compared to the previous store model, Frank said. In addition, the overall design and flow of the new layout aim to create a more “open, airy farmers market feel,” she noted. 

Grocery Dive was able to take a tour of the newest Virginia-based store on June 8 to see what updates accompany smaller-scale Sprouts locations as well as meet some of its long-time vendor partners, including Slingshot Coffee, which is available in every store, and Parker Farms, which supplies two main Sprouts distribution centers on the East Coast with varieties of organic and conventional produce.

Upgrades & offerings

Though the new Sprouts layout reduces the store size by roughly a quarter, most shoppers probably won’t notice, Frank said. Most of the excess square footage the specialty grocer decided to forgo when it began building the new format in 2021 was in the backroom area, leaving departments in center store the same size or even allowing for expansion. 

Amenities such as the deli counter and prepared meals section, as well as the frozen aisle, are all still integral parts of Sprouts stores — but shoppers may notice some adjustments. 

In newer stores, the Sprouts deli counter along with the heat-and-eat meal options have been relocated to a more focal point of the store layout, closer to the entrance. Heat-and-eat meals are on display around the deli counter, offering an average of five to 10 meal options, Frank said. A majority of the meals, which include a variety of pasta, enchiladas, salmon, chicken and more, come packaged with sides.

Frozen aisles are standard for grocery stores, but when revamping its store layout, Sprouts wanted to better incorporate frozen offerings into its other aisles. 

“If you go into an older store, [frozen] will be along the wall and then just in the back, so it was just brought up a little bit more” in the new store layout, Frank said. 

The revamped frozen section includes roughly 115 new items, with additions primarily focused on natural and organic options. The ice cream and frozen novelty selection has roughly doubled over the past two years in order to give shoppers more dessert alternatives, like non-dairy and sugar-free, Frank noted. 

Accessibility was another area the smaller-format Sprouts markets addressed. All of the aisles have been widened to make maneuverability and shopping easier overall. The frozen section’s aisles, in particular, were widened for the addition of a frozen coffin case down the section’s center to make products more accessible for shoppers as well as provide more space for products, Frank said.

Store staples that stayed

Uniquely placed in the center of every location, the produce section is the heart of every Sprouts store — something the specialty grocer did not change when developing its smaller-format model. And the Manassas location, like all Sprouts, will be rotating out its produce selection based on seasons. Currently, the store is stocked with peaches and melons, but come this fall, shoppers can expect apples and a variety of citruses at the store, Frank said. 

Last summer, Sprouts went viral for its $5 Sprouts deli sandwiches, which are still trending on TikTok with a hashtag (#sproutssandwich) that currently has around 34 million views — so, of course, this offering is still available in every store, old and new. Sprouts shoppers can also find packaged sushi, which is discounted to $5 every Wednesday.

Bulk bins and Sprouts’ New for You innovation section are staples to the grocer’s brand that were carried over to the small-format stores. However, they have been slightly upgraded. Whereas the bulk department at Sprouts’ legacy stores relied on scoop bins, the new stores mainly feature gravity dispensers across their candy, coffee, beans, nuts and snack selections.

The New for You section, meanwhile, is run by Sprouts’ Foragers Team, which tests new products from already-established vendor partners, and showcases local products unique to the area, Frank said. In the new store format, this section has moved to a more centralized location near the bulk bins. 

Sustainability spotlight

Every Sprouts location implements the grocer’s Food Rescue Program and Zero in on Waste recycling initiatives as part of its efforts to be more sustainable.

The Manassas store has partnered with Capital Area Food Bank, an organization serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area and providing over 50 million meals to nearly half a million area residents each year. This Sprouts market also partakes in Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation, Frank noted, which aims to educate younger generations about where their food comes from — specifically produce — and other sustainable efforts. 

“We partner with a lot of local nonprofit organizations to really get that word out and teach,” Frank added. 

Earlier this month, Sprouts released its 2022 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report as well as described upcoming sustainable efforts for 2023, and the new Virginia store is already meeting some of these goals. 

The store is an example of a Sprouts location that has entirely transitioned away from single-use plastic bags, instead using reusable plastic bags, which carry a 10 cents charge.

“These are made with reusable products and they can be used up to 125 times. So by the end of the year, we're hoping to save over 200 million [single-use] plastic bags,” Frank said. She noted that Sprouts also encourages its shoppers to bring their own reusable shopping bags in to use. 

The specialty grocer aims to eliminate single-use plastic chainwide by the end of this year, Frank said. 

The bulk bins are another area where bag types have been swapped out for a more eco-friendly option. When filling up on goods from the store’s section, shoppers are provided reusable canvas bags rather than plastic. Frank also noted that customers can bring in mason jars from home to stock up. 

Sprouts will continue to introduce its new store format to new markets as the year move along. As of mid-June, the company has opened 13 new stores this year, all constructed in the new small-format layout, Frank said. Though subject to change, the specialty grocer aims to open one more at the end of this month in Bradenton, Florida, in addition to 11 new stores in the third quarter and five more during the fourth quarter.