Sprouts Farmers Market acquires its only licensed stores
- Sprouts Farmers Market is acquiring two independently licensed California stores.
- The Chula Vista, California, stores are the only independent stores in the grocer’s portfolio.
- The grocer is closing 11 stores this year and plans to open at least 30 new locations in a smaller format.
Sprouts Farmers Market has acquired two independently owned stores operating in Chula Vista, California.
The two stores, which operated under the Sprouts Farmers Market name, were the only two licensed stores in the grocer’s portfolio, according to a March 20 release. The Chula Vista stores were licensed to a third-party operator “many years ago in a one-of-a-kind operating structure,” Sprouts Farmers Market said.
With the acquisition of the two locations, Sprouts Farmers Market will have control of all the stores in its expanding portfolio, according to the release. The grocer says the acquisition will give it complete control of the Sprouts brand and afford it more expansion opportunities in Southern California.
“We are pleased to bring these two high-volume stores into the Sprouts fold, allowing us to serve more customers in the San Diego market,” said Chip Molloy, chief financial officer at Sprouts Farmers Market, in the release.
The grocer noted the stores had not been factored in its financial outlook released earlier in March. According to the website for the Chula Vista stores, the locations have been locally owned for the past three decades, previously operating as Boney’s Marketplace and Henry’s Market before becoming Sprouts stores.
As Retail Leader recently reported, Sprouts Farmers Market this year plans to close 11 stores — closures it says were largely deferred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In their place, Sprouts says it will open approximately 30 new stores in its new smaller format.
The 11 closing stores are about 30% larger than Sprouts’ current store prototype, which is about 23,000 square feet. One of the stores will close during the first quarter and the remaining stores will be shuttered in the second quarter this year, Molloy told investors.
Last year, the grocer opened 16 new stores, nine of which were in its smaller format, and . closed four locations. Sprouts Farmers Market ended 2022 with 386 locations in about two-dozen states with the vast majority located in California.