Sprouts Operations

[storewanderer]

I would love to see the data on how much they actually sell in the vitamin/supplement department.

What could be the sales per square foot in that part of the store? So much space dedicated to this category.

The labor to stock these mostly small packages is quite different than that of other departments.

I ask because I have never witnessed this area to be busy at any Sprouts I have ever been in (Florida, Colorado, California). And often there is no knowledgeable clerk in that department.

I was in Whole Foods yesterday where about 1/8 of the sales floor is a nutrition department and couldn't help but notice despite a packed store, that department was deserted. Still plenty of LARGE ($250+) baskets making their way out of Whole Foods full of various other items from throughout the store.

In the case of Sprouts while there is not much traffic in the department, the few large baskets Sprouts sees, typically have an item or two from the Nutrition department. Would Sprouts lose that entire basket if the department was removed/scaled back?

Sprouts nutrition department runs like the GM/HBA department of a grocery store with the single unit sales and different distribution.

This is not a high sales department but it is very high margin.

The same can be said for how they are running their center store with very strange products hardly anyone is buying. Same type of effort as restocking a nutrition department.

Their entire strategy (cutting promotions, focusing on "picky eater" groceries that they feel will get them higher margins) is basically taking the nutrition department strategy and applying it across their entire store.

Theft has also become an issue in that department. An issue they seem to not be doing much about. One store near me has a very knowledgeable employee who is a "lead clerk" over that department, but they have that employee on the cash register 90% of the time. The departments are right next to the door in many locations. While the manager's office is also often in the front corner in that department, the way the office is made/positioned the manager has their back or side to the department and isn't watching it from the office, if they are even in the office in the first place.

You don't need much volume if you have Nutrition/Organic foods. Study Natural Grocers. These stores hardly do any volume yet they stay open and they are profitable. They do not pay top of market wages (trying to be polite on my comment here), do not have any in-store prep/service departments...

[veteran+]

Whole Foods and Sprouts is like comparing apples an oranges. Both fruits but very different.

The allocation for food vs vitamins/supplements are different and total size of store plays a big part as well.

Center store replenishment is not the same as GM/HBA and vitamins/supplements. Their productivity rates are different.

[ClownLoach]

I would love to see the data on how much they actually sell in the vitamin/supplement department.

What could be the sales per square foot in that part of the store? So much space dedicated to this category.

The labor to stock these mostly small packages is quite different than that of other departments.

I ask because I have never witnessed this area to be busy at any Sprouts I have ever been in (Florida, Colorado, California). And often there is no knowledgeable clerk in that department.

I find the opposite, when I used to need some obscure supplements my mother would want when she was fighting cancer I found the Sprouts folks knew exactly what she was looking for every time.

[storewanderer]

I would love to see the data on how much they actually sell in the vitamin/supplement department.

What could be the sales per square foot in that part of the store? So much space dedicated to this category.

The labor to stock these mostly small packages is quite different than that of other departments.

I ask because I have never witnessed this area to be busy at any Sprouts I have ever been in (Florida, Colorado, California). And often there is no knowledgeable clerk in that department.

I find the opposite, when I used to need some obscure supplements my mother would want when she was fighting cancer I found the Sprouts folks knew exactly what she was looking for every time.

I also dealt with a knowledgeable part time male clerk during 2020 there when I was trying to get some supplements together for COVID risk and was having trouble online. Older guy, haven't seen him there in a while. But Sprouts in 2020 was rather different than now; wasn't quite as lackluster yet.

[rwsandiego]

I would love to see the data on how much they actually sell in the vitamin/supplement department.

What could be the sales per square foot in that part of the store? So much space dedicated to this category.

The labor to stock these mostly small packages is quite different than that of other departments.

I ask because I have never witnessed this area to be busy at any Sprouts I have ever been in (Florida, Colorado, California). And often there is no knowledgeable clerk in that department.

I find the opposite, when I used to need some obscure supplements my mother would want when she was fighting cancer I found the Sprouts folks knew exactly what she was looking for every time.

Which Sprouts location is this? I'm asking because the ones in and near San Diego and some in LA/Riverside counties are legacy Henry's. They tended to have (and still had, last time I was in a Sprouts back in 2023) more knowledgeable staff. Here in Phoenix, they just read the label.

[HCal]

I'm surprised to see that Sprouts stock is up over 50% in the last year. They must be doing something right.

[veteran+]

I would love to see the data on how much they actually sell in the vitamin/supplement department.

What could be the sales per square foot in that part of the store? So much space dedicated to this category.

The labor to stock these mostly small packages is quite different than that of other departments.

I ask because I have never witnessed this area to be busy at any Sprouts I have ever been in (Florida, Colorado, California). And often there is no knowledgeable clerk in that department.

I find the opposite, when I used to need some obscure supplements my mother would want when she was fighting cancer I found the Sprouts folks knew exactly what she was looking for every time.

Which Sprouts location is this? I'm asking because the ones in and near San Diego and some in LA/Riverside counties are legacy Henry's. They tended to have (and still had, last time I was in a Sprouts back in 2023) more knowledgeable staff. Here in Phoenix, they just read the label.

1751 Westwood Bl.
1302 S. La Brea A.
915 N. La Brea A.

The one on Santa Monica Bl. in West Hollywood closed.

[ClownLoach]

I would love to see the data on how much they actually sell in the vitamin/supplement department.

What could be the sales per square foot in that part of the store? So much space dedicated to this category.

The labor to stock these mostly small packages is quite different than that of other departments.

I ask because I have never witnessed this area to be busy at any Sprouts I have ever been in (Florida, Colorado, California). And often there is no knowledgeable clerk in that department.

I find the opposite, when I used to need some obscure supplements my mother would want when she was fighting cancer I found the Sprouts folks knew exactly what she was looking for every time.

Which Sprouts location is this? I'm asking because the ones in and near San Diego and some in LA/Riverside counties are legacy Henry's. They tended to have (and still had, last time I was in a Sprouts back in 2023) more knowledgeable staff. Here in Phoenix, they just read the label.

A mix of good and bad.

Stores with good vitamin depts and otherwise good stores have included:
Seal Beach
Lakewood (near Carson St)
Huntington Beach (both stores)
La Canada Flintridge
San Clemente
Irvine
Temecula (South) former Henry's
Menifee
Torrance (PCH and Anza)
Yorba Linda
Carlsbad near the mall
Costa Mesa on 17th
Some more I can't recall right now

Bad Service Stores
Lake Forest (superstore format, otherwise great store esp deli dept, largest Sprouts I've ever seen)
Costa Mesa on Harbor
Tustin Marketplace (the test store for the horrible new prototype with the meat department up front by the register, not kidding, I never went back so maybe they've fixed this stupidity by now)
Temecula on Winchester (maybe the worst Sprouts in the chain also former Henry's)


My mother used to be in the vitamin business, and they're both high dollar and high margin. So even if that department gets shopped only a few times per day, it should be more comparable to the pharmacy at a drugstore than say an aisle in a grocery store. Customers who are very into these supplements will spend $500 to $2000 a month. Needless to say it doesn't take many of these customers to make a big difference in sales and profit. The department definitely carries the store.

Your findings about the Phoenix stores being bad doesn't surprise me, since one store in my town executes at "pre-Amazon" Whole Foods levels while the other is somewhere between The 99 Store produce and a bad IGA. Same floorplan and both former Henry's based on the decor but otherwise they bear no resemblance whatsoever to one another as if they're part of completely different chains. The execution in this company is insanely variable, a sign of terrible management.

[ClownLoach]

I'm surprised to see that Sprouts stock is up over 50% in the last year. They must be doing something right.

Sure! Things that they currently do right to raise stock prices include lowering quality of merchandise, cutting payroll, slashing capital expenditures, paying people less, treating employees badly (one of the 20 worst companies to work for in America last year), moving to prepacked meats, raising prices, trying to rebrand cost cutting as ESG investments, and reducing the culling of fresh produce while keeping it out longer to reduce shrink expense.

All those great examples I've given of what Sprouts is "doing right" will continue to take the stock to new heights! Maybe they can replace the last few experienced employees with Google speaker boxes so customers can ask them for an AI response answer to their questions while they ring themselves up at self checkout. They could still do great things like this and double the stock price this year.

[storewanderer]

I'm surprised to see that Sprouts stock is up over 50% in the last year. They must be doing something right.

People said the same about Albertsons in the 90's and Safeway in the Lifestyle era. Look where they are now. Or worse, where they are about to be... if this merger goes through.