Sprouts set to Expand in Georgia in 2014! (My Personal Grocery Retailer Favorite)

Sprouts Farmers Market Announces Expansion in Georgia & Kansas

Grocer Signs Leases for Stores in the Greater Atlanta and Kansas City Areas

PHOENIX, Dec. 23, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (the "Company") (Nasdaq:SFM), one of the fastest growing natural food retailers in the country, today announced its expansion with six signed leases in Kansas and Georgia.

The chain of specialty grocery stores expects to open a new store in Overland Park, Kan. on Jan. 8, 2014. The 23,360-square-foot store will bring an estimated 100 jobs to the Corbin Park Shopping Center at 135(th) Street and Metcalf Avenue.

Phoenix-based Sprouts has quickly become one of the top retailers catering to shoppers' desire for small-footprint natural grocery stores. The Company offers fresh, high-quality, natural and organic foods at affordable prices.

"We are excited to be a part of the Corbin Park project and thank the community for welcoming Sprouts Farmers Market," said Doug Sanders, Sprouts' president and chief executive officer. "Sprouts brings a deep commitment to community engagement and advancement, and we are proud to be a neighbor in this great region."

Sprouts is also expanding into the Southeast with its easy-to-shop stores and unrivaled customer service. Plans are being developed for new locations in the greater Atlanta area, including Snellville, Cumming, Dunwoody, John's Creek and Norcross.

"Sprouts is bringing more than 500 new jobs to the greater Atlanta area and is poised for significant growth," Sanders added. "We look forward to expanding the Sprouts brand and introducing 'healthy living for less' to an even larger customer base."

About Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc.

Sprouts Farmers Market is a specialty retailer of natural and organic foods at great prices. We offer a complete shopping experience that includes fresh produce, bulk foods, vitamins and supplements, packaged groceries, meat and seafood, baked goods, dairy products, frozen foods, natural body care and household items catering to consumers' growing interest in health and wellness. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Sprouts Farmers Market employs more than 14,000 team members and operates more than 165 stores. For more information on the locations coming soon, please visit sprouts.com/stores.

Forward Looking Statements:


Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements contained herein (including, but not limited to, statements to the effect that Sprouts Farmers Market or its management "anticipates," "plans," "estimates," "expects," "believes," or the negative of these terms and other similar expressions) that are not statements of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the expected timing, locations and job creation estimates for the Company's new stores in Kansas and Georgia and the Company's belief that it is poised for significant growth and further expansion. These statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations as of the date of this release. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, general economic conditions; the Company's ability to successfully open new stores; the Company's ability to manage its rapid growth; availability and cost of acceptable real estate; disruption in the Company's supply chain; and other factors as set forth from time to time in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The Company intends these forward-looking statements to speak only as of the time of this release and does not undertake to update or revise them as more information becomes available, except as required by law.

Sprouts Seeks Fuel for Growth in IPO in Plan for 1000 Store Expansion

Sprouts Seeks Fuel for Growth in IPO

(Article written by Jon Springer for Supermarketnews.com and can be found here)

PHOENIX — Sprouts Farmers Markets is touting rapid sales growth and the potential to add more than 1,000 new stores in a prospectus detailing plans for an initial public offering of stock.

The retailer here, which operated 157 stores as of May 1, said it plans to grow its store count by at least 12% annually over the next five years, with the potential to operate as many as 1,200 nationwide. Sprouts posted comparable sales growth of 9.7% in 2012, according to the filing, and has marked positive comps for 23 consecutive quarters.

Sales for 2012, including Sunflower assets added during the year, totaled $2 billion. The company posted $20 million in net earnings for the year.

Spouts, which is controlled by the private investor Apollo Capital Management, did not indicate how much it intended to raise in the IPO, but said it intended to use proceeds to service debt from its recent refinancing and for general corporate purposes.

Sprouts in the filing said its combination of natural and organic foods and low prices in produce gives it broader appeal than "high end" natural and organic retailers. Its strategy is to use low prices in produce to attract and then transition conventional grocery shoppers into more loyal "lifestyle" shoppers.

"The foundation of our value proposition is fresh, high-quality produce which we offer at prices we believe are significantly below those of conventional food retailers and even further below high-end natural and organic food retailers," the company said. "We believe that by combining our scale in and self-distribution of produce, we ensure that our produce meets our high quality standards and can be delivered to customers at market leading prices. In addition, our scale, operating structure and deep industry relationships position us to consistently deliver ‘Healthy Living for Less.’ We believe we attract a broad customer base, including conventional supermarket customers, and appeal to a much wider demographic than other specialty retailers of natural and organic food."

The IPO would follow those of other growth-oriented speciality food chains that have tapped the public markets recently, including Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, The Fresh Market, and Fairway Holdings.