Sprouts

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storewanderer
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Sprouts

Post by storewanderer »

Anyone here go to Sprouts much? How do your stores look?

Specifically:
Produce department in-stock condition
Meat freshness
Service
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Re: Sprouts

Post by veteran+ »

Well the one in West Hollywood is far better than the one in San Diego, Hillcrest area.

Store looked great and in stock.

Clean and fresh!

Service? Meh...............lines a bit long, no one on sales floor, not so friendly employees, very UNINFORMED employees.
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Re: Sprouts

Post by klkla »

The one I shop in has been operating smoothly lately. No out of stocks. Good selection. Well staffed.

I've been doing more than half my shopping there in the last month or two.
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Re: Sprouts

Post by storewanderer »

Interesting. Glad to hear the whole chain isn't having the issues the one in Reno is. Empty produce tables, lots of brown meat, deli closing at 4 PM (seafood is still open until 10 PM when the store closes). Seems to be staffed well enough... Produce and meat have been a problem for months now here.
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Re: Sprouts

Post by rwsandiego »

veteran+ wrote: October 2nd, 2020, 6:13 am Well the one in West Hollywood is far better than the one in San Diego, Hillcrest area....
Oh, man - that Hillcrest store was a dive when I moved to SD in 2000 and went downhill over the years, It was better than the one in Pacific Beach, but that's not saying much. Used to shop the one on Midway and Rosecrans. Was a decent store.
storewanderer wrote: October 2nd, 2020, 12:12 am Anyone here go to Sprouts much? How do your stores look?

Specifically:
Produce department in-stock condition
Meat freshness
Service
There are three in Phoenix that I shop at once in a while. First one is 28th St and Indian School. Big store, former Alpha-Beta/ABCO. Nice enough store but the meat department could use some improvement. Second is Glendale and 24th Street. Former Lucky/ABCO. Generally nicer than the one on Indian School but the meat still could improve. Last one is 7th Avenue and Osborne. It was built a couple of years ago as a redevelopment of a very old Bashas'. Very nice decor, good service meat and fish but I find pre-packaged meat to be lacking in selection. The deli employees are just careless. So far, so severed fingers or anything, but on three separate occasions they have forgotten about sandwiches (despite me reminding them) and they ended up burned. Now, I don't order sandwiches there.

The produce at all three of them is OK, but I find their prices to be higher than Safeway. They also have old produce, which was fine when they sold it at rock-bottom prices. It is not fine when they are selling at or above Safeway and Whole Foods.

Service is variable. The folks at Glendale Avenue and at Indian School are nice enough. Some are even knowledgeable about the products. The 7th Ave/Osborne store just needs an employee reset. Most of them are just plain off. The Safeway across the street went through a staff change and has improved significantly. Makes me wonder if Sprouts hired the old Safeway crew.
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Re: Sprouts

Post by veteran+ »

klkla wrote: October 2nd, 2020, 7:51 pm The one I shop in has been operating smoothly lately. No out of stocks. Good selection. Well staffed.

I've been doing more than half my shopping there in the last month or two.
Which one?
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Re: Sprouts

Post by Bagels »

Sprouts has developed a cult following. Last year, they opened up a location in an aging shopping center in El Toro that's adjacent to a relatively new (for SoCal, at least) shopping center that's anchored by one of the last new build Ralphs (which is among the last locations to still feature the 2000s décor package). It's had a noticeable negative impact on the foot traffic at Ralphs ... which is a huge store that always feels so empty. The Smart & Final across the street -- which was the first SmartCo in SoCal, and remains the largest S&F I've ever been in -- seems to have fared even worse (the parking lot is virtually deserted).

It seems as if Sprouts has built up a cult like following. Their prices are no better than the competition (sans a few loss leaders), and the quality of their produce isn't any better. There's now two locations near me, and I haven't spent a dollar in either of them this year.
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Re: Sprouts

Post by submariner »

Honestly? I'd love to shop more at Sprouts or TJ's, but I'm located in a dead zone for either 🤷‍♂️ (Use Disneyland as a point of reference to where I am)
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Re: Sprouts

Post by storewanderer »

submariner wrote: October 3rd, 2020, 7:54 pm Honestly? I'd love to shop more at Sprouts or TJ's, but I'm located in a dead zone for either 🤷‍♂️ (Use Disneyland as a point of reference to where I am)

That is a very odd empty zone... we've seen some retail close around there over the years too haven't we? Then it fills back up pretty quickly. I am surprised neither have found a suitable location, especially Sprouts.
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Re: Sprouts

Post by Bagels »

storewanderer wrote: October 3rd, 2020, 10:24 pm
submariner wrote: October 3rd, 2020, 7:54 pm Honestly? I'd love to shop more at Sprouts or TJ's, but I'm located in a dead zone for either 🤷‍♂️ (Use Disneyland as a point of reference to where I am)

That is a very odd empty zone... we've seen some retail close around there over the years too haven't we? Then it fills back up pretty quickly. I am surprised neither have found a suitable location, especially Sprouts.
It really isn't, it's just the local demographic isn't a good fit for the product. If you search for Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons, you'll notice a similar pattern. Ralphs has closed numerous stores in that zone in the past decade, and the Vons' never received a full conversion to the lifestyles format (instead, they received the "cardboard cutout" signage, although the stores have since been remodeled into "colorful lifestyles" .... and even in spite of the remodel, the Vons' are pretty tired looking on the inside).
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