Sprouts Closing 11 Stores, to focus on "smaller concept."

[ClownLoach]

There is no Sprouts in Rocklin, CA. The store is in Roseville, CA (Rocklin is across the street...).

Funny they now don't want to admit to closing a store in Roseville. I agree closing in Roseville looks pretty bad.

I didn't type it. Can't find the link now to the source.

[ClownLoach]

Any Sprouts I have been in, regarding supplements, is about the same. Hardly no one shopping there. The "specialist" in supplements, no where to be found.

My point is, instead all that space for supplements, why not give some more room to things like service (fresh) counters (and as Clown stated, more room for separate operations for meat, seafood and others).

Sprouts is barely a "farmer's market". You need more fresh food and even center store food. Farmer's markets sell Food! And organics? Less than even Pavilions and way less than Ralphs.

Every square inch counts in small format stores where variety may not be possible. I get that the Supplements may be Sprouts' high margin department like non foods are in Big supermarkets or hypermarkets, but if very few are shopping it and buying, what's the point?

I just think their "balance" in sales of high margin and low margin have been off for quite a while especially as it pertains to the store's size.

The last time I visited San Diego, I stopped into the North Park Sprouts. This location was a Henry's and before that a Boney's. They had the same quantity of supplements as before and had a specialist. (Not sure their depth of knowledge, though). It is a small store (former Marina Safeway) but, as before, large produce department (it takes up most of the store), small deli and meat departments (service meat and limited-service deli), and a small "center store."

As it was when I lived in SD and shopped there, it was packed. In fact, there was one remaining space in the parking lot, as was the case when I lived there.

Sprouts has some larger legacy Henry's/Boney's stores (PB, Point Loma, and Encinitas come to mind), but they don't seem to be as large as some of the newer locations, such as in Phoenix. Still, they are similarly laid out and carry the same product mix as the North Park store. Like the North Park store, they are always busy.

One of the interviews with Jack Sinclair mentioned he wanted to replicate the format they have in San Diego. I am not sure how well the format would transfer, given that San Diegans have shopped at Sprouts/Henry's/Boney's for decades, but they do not have the same cache elsewhere. They have almost a cult status regarding supplements in San Diego. Then again, San Diego isn't LA, Florida, or Maine.

Jack Sinclair's new mutant format Sprouts with the combo deli-bakery-seafood-meat desk is not anything like the original San Diego stores. It isn't anything like a Farmers Market. It's the exact opposite. Fresh foods of all kinds get slashed, presentations condensed, counters reduced, produce gets a smaller presentation than Aldi, bulk cut in half, and basically all the rest of the space goes to regular center store boxed goods and frozen foods. It's the anti-Farmers market format. He has lost all credibility if he is claiming the garbage they put up in Tustin, or the slightly less bizarre version they put in Menifee, is anything like the original Sprouts stores that had every register cranking open to close with long lines and customers buying cart loads of cheap produce. (At least they must have figured out that putting packaged meat by the front entrance on the front left wall, next to self checkout, is a bad idea so they went back to putting deli and bakery there in the newer small formats). I wonder if they'll fix that screw up in the prototypes in Tustin and Arizona?

[storewanderer]

Jack Sinclair's new mutant format Sprouts with the combo deli-bakery-seafood-meat desk is not anything like the original San Diego stores. It isn't anything like a Farmers Market. It's the exact opposite. Fresh foods of all kinds get slashed, presentations condensed, counters reduced, produce gets a smaller presentation than Aldi, bulk cut in half, and basically all the rest of the space goes to regular center store boxed goods and frozen foods. It's the anti-Farmers market format. He has lost all credibility if he is claiming the garbage they put up in Tustin, or the slightly less bizarre version they put in Menifee, is anything like the original Sprouts stores that had every register cranking open to close with long lines and customers buying cart loads of cheap produce. (At least they must have figured out that putting packaged meat by the front entrance on the front left wall, next to self checkout, is a bad idea so they went back to putting deli and bakery there in the newer small formats). I wonder if they'll fix that screw up in the prototypes in Tustin and Arizona?

Sprouts put out a strong earnings report today. Good for them I suppose.

They are pushing this 30 new store openings this year. If these new stores flop, the more of them they open, the worse their results will get.

Meanwhile I guess they are rolling out the California 10 cent fee for super thick plastic bags bag policy around Dallas now or very soon. I am sure that will go over wonderfully there. It is generating major complaints in Reno according to employees I've talked to and some observations I've made. Who knows if it is enough to impact if customers actually shop there in the future or not. All I buy at Sprouts is deeply discounted stuff that is short dated anyway so I'll never be needing to pay for more than one bag.