Sprouts Operations

This is the place for general and miscellaneous posts on topics which might extend past the boundaries of any specific region. No non-grocery posts.
Post Reply
Alpha8472
Posts: 3929
Joined: February 24th, 2009, 8:55 pm
Been thanked: 79 times
Status: Offline

Sprouts Operations

Post by Alpha8472 »

I have noticed in the past few months that self checkout has appeared at most Sprouts stores in my area. Previously you would have 3 cashiers and 3 baggers. Now you are lucky to have 1 cashier and 1 self checkout person. The baggers are gone. The store seems strangely empty as if most of the employees have lost their jobs.

Every receipt now prints $10 off a $75 purchase good for the month of April.

I have also gotten many postcards in the mail with similar coupons.

Is Sprouts getting more desperate. The stores are having stocking issues. Many days the chips aisle is empty of many kinds of chips. Either there is a supply issue or the store does not have enough employees to restock the shelves.

I noticed that they had to clearance many Sprouts brand chips recently. They were all expiring that month. Perhaps they ordered too many and they expired, so now the store orders less chips so that they won't have to throw away such huge amounts as before. Now the chips aisle is empty most of the time.
mjhale
Shift Manager
Shift Manager
Posts: 429
Joined: October 2nd, 2016, 4:02 pm
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 47 times
Status: Offline

Re: Sprouts Operations

Post by mjhale »

There is one Sprouts location in my area. They are located in an old Kmart that was subdivided for multiple businesses. The Sprouts is located in a large strip mall shopping center in a diverse area. In the same strip mall there are couple of small ethnic stores as well as a brand new and very busy Lotte location. There is also a large modern Safeway across the street. I'll sometimes stop in Sprouts after Lotte and Safeway just to see what they have. Lets just say every time I'm been in Sprouts it was underwhelming at best. Nothing stands out and makes me say I want to come back. Very average offerings in meat, deli and bakery along with high prices. Produce selection is thin and doesn't seem fresh at all. Again pricing is on the high side especially for organics. The rest of the store is your typical "healthy, organic" type selection. There no way I, as an average consumer, could do a full shop at Sprouts. And even if I attempted to, the mainstream brands (even if healthy or organic) they sell can be had elsewhere for a lot less. I've never seen more than one register open at a time and no self-checkout last I was there. Not that they need more registers open as the store isn't busy enough even on weekends to warrant it. I'm not sure how a store like Sprouts can come to the area which is driven by Whole Foods and Trader Joes for the so called healthy, organic, unique space along with all of the other usual traditional grocery competition plus Walmart and the hard discounters. Maybe they saw high income which meant they would get a part of that pie. But at the rate they are going I can't see them sticking around for the long haul.
jamcool
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1019
Joined: March 5th, 2009, 10:27 pm
Been thanked: 50 times
Status: Offline

Re: Sprouts Operations

Post by jamcool »

Sprouts makes its money in vitamin/supplement sales, they have a bigger brand selection and lower prices than GNC
Alpha8472
Posts: 3929
Joined: February 24th, 2009, 8:55 pm
Been thanked: 79 times
Status: Offline

Re: Sprouts Operations

Post by Alpha8472 »

The vitamin section is huge, but it seems very unpopular. It is empty of customers at stores near me.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Sprouts Operations

Post by storewanderer »

Sprouts in Reno is very popular but not a store I am happy with at all. Meat has major freshness issues. Produce has been hit and miss but more miss than hit. Bakery/deli is nothing special; they do have Boar's Head though.

The biggest thing I have noticed is since they got the CEO from Wal Mart/99 Cents Only, their pricing has skyrocketed. They stopped having any real bargains anymore in meat and produce. This has further challenged product freshness. Overall I find Sprouts to sell products below the level of quality of other major grocers, at the same or higher prices. Why shop there? I see little to no reason to at this point.

I do not feel like you get what you pay for at Sprouts.

No self checkouts in Reno which is a shame as their checkout is always understaffed and not trained overly well. And the employees are either exceedingly friendly or exceedingly indifferent; moreso friendly in recent months than indifferent so I guess that is a positive.
User avatar
norcalriteaidclerk
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 542
Joined: August 22nd, 2010, 1:01 am
Location: 916/279 area code complex
Has thanked: 63 times
Been thanked: 42 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Sprouts Operations

Post by norcalriteaidclerk »

Tradiotionally,their Citrus Heights location is constantly hopping whenever I've been in there:they can have as many cashiers at the checkstands and still have long lines at every one.Haven't yet noticed self-checkouts there.
For your life,Thrifty and Payless have got it.
ClownLoach
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 2694
Joined: April 4th, 2016, 10:55 pm
Has thanked: 40 times
Been thanked: 289 times
Status: Offline

Re: Sprouts Operations

Post by ClownLoach »

Sprouts was moving in the right direction until the CEO change. About 18 months ago they opened a brand new, large newer format store in Lake Forest, CA that is about 35,000 Sq ft and is a spectacular format and design for Sprouts. The lighting and graphics are beautiful, the store has an expanded meat and seafood counter as well as an "island" format deli and bakery that reminds me of the original Pavilions setup but on the right side with a café seating area in the front. Boars Head deli staff actually trained by the vendor on precision slicing and packaging - whatever thickness you want and plastic slips between the slices (counted out in tare weight properly too). Shortly after this site opened the CEO went on record that he wants to move away from the new large stores and move to smaller format stores similar to the footprints of his previous company 99 Cents Only.

The new prototype recently opened. It is in a small converted Henry's in the Tustin Market Place. They ruined this store and will destroy the entire brand if they go forward. Things just do not make any sense. Meat at the front of the store? It's all prepackaged and dismal quality, with a tiny little case. Bakery counter is gone. Deli is smaller than a Walmart deli. Sandwich bar hidden from sight so you can't watch them prepare your lunch. Bulk was slashed in half and prices increased. Produce, the heart of the store, is half the size it was. There are a lot more frozen and shelf stable items but this does not make up for the destruction of the core "farmers market" items one would visit Sprouts for. And the decor is a Whole Foods ripoff - actually the same designer. The only real improvement was that they painted the ceiling white - this being a former Henry's had the dark green ceiling that was distracting and dingy in appearance.

This particular store used to be very crowded with all registers running at dinnertime. The remodel was slow and disruptive for almost 6 months which seemed excessive for a small store that didn't move any walls. This chased away a lot of customers who have obviously returned underwhelmed by the new prototype. Now the store is dead at all times with one checkout no waiting and a bank of self checkouts. I am not exaggerating when I say they must be running at least a negative 70% comp here. I hope they recognize the bad sales are self inflicted and not because of the new Amazon Fresh across the street as they're not taking anyone's business. The Ralphs Fresh Fare a block away has never been busier with Sprouts shooting themselves in the foot and Albertsons closing about a mile away.

I hope that this isn't going to be one of those cases where they are so focused on just increasing the bottom line profit margin that they don't care if they lose volume (like when CVS took over SavOn). The new direction is a complete and total disaster.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Sprouts Operations

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: April 7th, 2022, 6:10 pm Sprouts was moving in the right direction until the CEO change. About 18 months ago they opened a brand new, large newer format store in Lake Forest, CA that is about 35,000 Sq ft and is a spectacular format and design for Sprouts. The lighting and graphics are beautiful, the store has an expanded meat and seafood counter as well as an "island" format deli and bakery that reminds me of the original Pavilions setup but on the right side with a café seating area in the front. Boars Head deli staff actually trained by the vendor on precision slicing and packaging - whatever thickness you want and plastic slips between the slices (counted out in tare weight properly too). Shortly after this site opened the CEO went on record that he wants to move away from the new large stores and move to smaller format stores similar to the footprints of his previous company 99 Cents Only.

The new prototype recently opened. It is in a small converted Henry's in the Tustin Market Place. They ruined this store and will destroy the entire brand if they go forward. Things just do not make any sense. Meat at the front of the store? It's all prepackaged and dismal quality, with a tiny little case. Bakery counter is gone. Deli is smaller than a Walmart deli. Sandwich bar hidden from sight so you can't watch them prepare your lunch. Bulk was slashed in half and prices increased. Produce, the heart of the store, is half the size it was. There are a lot more frozen and shelf stable items but this does not make up for the destruction of the core "farmers market" items one would visit Sprouts for. And the decor is a Whole Foods ripoff - actually the same designer. The only real improvement was that they painted the ceiling white - this being a former Henry's had the dark green ceiling that was distracting and dingy in appearance.

This particular store used to be very crowded with all registers running at dinnertime. The remodel was slow and disruptive for almost 6 months which seemed excessive for a small store that didn't move any walls. This chased away a lot of customers who have obviously returned underwhelmed by the new prototype. Now the store is dead at all times with one checkout no waiting and a bank of self checkouts. I am not exaggerating when I say they must be running at least a negative 70% comp here. I hope they recognize the bad sales are self inflicted and not because of the new Amazon Fresh across the street as they're not taking anyone's business. The Ralphs Fresh Fare a block away has never been busier with Sprouts shooting themselves in the foot and Albertsons closing about a mile away.

I hope that this isn't going to be one of those cases where they are so focused on just increasing the bottom line profit margin that they don't care if they lose volume (like when CVS took over SavOn). The new direction is a complete and total disaster.
What you describe in Tustin sounds like the first Sprouts I ever went into. It was an original Sprouts, opened right before/as they were buying Henry's.

Sprouts in its original form had a cheap sandwich counter. $3.99. That was the only service counter in the store. No service deli case, no bakery at all, no service meat, and a couple aisles of bulk foods. It also had less produce than its current form. Sprouts service deli, service meat, and service bakery programs are a blend of the old Sunflower programs with a bit of Henry's programs thrown in (Henry's had some in-store bakery going on, but no formal service counter). Frankly of the 3 chains I thought Sprouts was by far the worst store. I was surprised how it bought the two better chains out. But then Sprouts did truly take a lot of "best practices" from Henry's and Sunflower and what we see today as "Sprouts" is very much enhanced on fresh products from the "original Sprouts."

Supposedly the new CEO of Sprouts did a study and saw the smaller stores with more limited service departments were getting them better profits/more ROI. It would not surprise me if Sprouts fresh departments (bakery/deli/meat specifically) are a very much loss-making operation as I don't think Sprouts is a very strong operator in these departments. The problem is if you take these departments away, as you point out, a lot fewer people shop at Sprouts.

This is a weird business model that seems to work different ways. Have you ever gone into a Natural Grocers (Vitamin Cottage)? Basically it is Sprouts minus any service departments. Everything is prepack. Small produce department. These stores hardly have any labor. Every one I've ever been in also hardly has any customers. Yet somehow they survive and the chain is profitable.
ClownLoach
Valued Contributor
Valued Contributor
Posts: 2694
Joined: April 4th, 2016, 10:55 pm
Has thanked: 40 times
Been thanked: 289 times
Status: Offline

Re: Sprouts Operations

Post by ClownLoach »

storewanderer wrote: April 7th, 2022, 10:02 pm
ClownLoach wrote: April 7th, 2022, 6:10 pm Sprouts was moving in the right direction until the CEO change. About 18 months ago they opened a brand new, large newer format store in Lake Forest, CA that is about 35,000 Sq ft and is a spectacular format and design for Sprouts. The lighting and graphics are beautiful, the store has an expanded meat and seafood counter as well as an "island" format deli and bakery that reminds me of the original Pavilions setup but on the right side with a café seating area in the front. Boars Head deli staff actually trained by the vendor on precision slicing and packaging - whatever thickness you want and plastic slips between the slices (counted out in tare weight properly too). Shortly after this site opened the CEO went on record that he wants to move away from the new large stores and move to smaller format stores similar to the footprints of his previous company 99 Cents Only.

The new prototype recently opened. It is in a small converted Henry's in the Tustin Market Place. They ruined this store and will destroy the entire brand if they go forward. Things just do not make any sense. Meat at the front of the store? It's all prepackaged and dismal quality, with a tiny little case. Bakery counter is gone. Deli is smaller than a Walmart deli. Sandwich bar hidden from sight so you can't watch them prepare your lunch. Bulk was slashed in half and prices increased. Produce, the heart of the store, is half the size it was. There are a lot more frozen and shelf stable items but this does not make up for the destruction of the core "farmers market" items one would visit Sprouts for. And the decor is a Whole Foods ripoff - actually the same designer. The only real improvement was that they painted the ceiling white - this being a former Henry's had the dark green ceiling that was distracting and dingy in appearance.

This particular store used to be very crowded with all registers running at dinnertime. The remodel was slow and disruptive for almost 6 months which seemed excessive for a small store that didn't move any walls. This chased away a lot of customers who have obviously returned underwhelmed by the new prototype. Now the store is dead at all times with one checkout no waiting and a bank of self checkouts. I am not exaggerating when I say they must be running at least a negative 70% comp here. I hope they recognize the bad sales are self inflicted and not because of the new Amazon Fresh across the street as they're not taking anyone's business. The Ralphs Fresh Fare a block away has never been busier with Sprouts shooting themselves in the foot and Albertsons closing about a mile away.

I hope that this isn't going to be one of those cases where they are so focused on just increasing the bottom line profit margin that they don't care if they lose volume (like when CVS took over SavOn). The new direction is a complete and total disaster.
What you describe in Tustin sounds like the first Sprouts I ever went into. It was an original Sprouts, opened right before/as they were buying Henry's.

Sprouts in its original form had a cheap sandwich counter. $3.99. That was the only service counter in the store. No service deli case, no bakery at all, no service meat, and a couple aisles of bulk foods. It also had less produce than its current form. Sprouts service deli, service meat, and service bakery programs are a blend of the old Sunflower programs with a bit of Henry's programs thrown in (Henry's had some in-store bakery going on, but no formal service counter). Frankly of the 3 chains I thought Sprouts was by far the worst store. I was surprised how it bought the two better chains out. But then Sprouts did truly take a lot of "best practices" from Henry's and Sunflower and what we see today as "Sprouts" is very much enhanced on fresh products from the "original Sprouts."

Supposedly the new CEO of Sprouts did a study and saw the smaller stores with more limited service departments were getting them better profits/more ROI. It would not surprise me if Sprouts fresh departments (bakery/deli/meat specifically) are a very much loss-making operation as I don't think Sprouts is a very strong operator in these departments. The problem is if you take these departments away, as you point out, a lot fewer people shop at Sprouts.

This is a weird business model that seems to work different ways. Have you ever gone into a Natural Grocers (Vitamin Cottage)? Basically it is Sprouts minus any service departments. Everything is prepack. Small produce department. These stores hardly have any labor. Every one I've ever been in also hardly has any customers. Yet somehow they survive and the chain is profitable.
I just don't understand how spending a fortune on Whole Foods level decor and fixtures is justified in this discount farmers market/vitamin store format. It just doesn't wash with everything else they did to cheapen up the entire store. They just seem lost. I can't speak to how they perform elsewhere but they were doing very very well in SoCal for quite some time until the recent changes (big cutbacks on promotions and sale items, the deterioration of the perimeter etc.)
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Sprouts Operations

Post by storewanderer »

ClownLoach wrote: April 8th, 2022, 4:49 pm
I just don't understand how spending a fortune on Whole Foods level decor and fixtures is justified in this discount farmers market/vitamin store format. It just doesn't wash with everything else they did to cheapen up the entire store. They just seem lost. I can't speak to how they perform elsewhere but they were doing very very well in SoCal for quite some time until the recent changes (big cutbacks on promotions and sale items, the deterioration of the perimeter etc.)
I don't think it is a discount farmer's market format anymore. Also is it really a vitamin store? That area has lost a ton of SKUs and I think that business has really moved online. I am not sure what it is anymore. It feels like a small overpriced store with what can be described as a well curated mix of what should be quality products but impacted negatively by marginal quality control and marginal customer service. Why shop there?

They have cut down on promotions in all markets. The CEO seems think they can command Whole Foods level pricing with Food 4 Less level quality. Sorry but not going to work.

At this point I am waiting for another chain to buy Sprouts out. But I wonder who else would want all those random geographies...
Post Reply