| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Grocery store, Health food store |
| Founded | 2002 |
| Headquarters | Phoenix, Arizona, United States |
| Area served | Arizona, California, Colorado, Texas |
| Products | Food, Organic food, vitamins & supplements |
| Owner(s) | Apollo Global Management |
| Employees | 7000 |
| Website | www.sprouts.com |
Sprouts is a privately owned Arizona-based chain of specialty grocery stores with over 100 locations in Arizona, California, Colorado and Texas. Sprouts stores are smaller than a typical supermarket, focusing on fresh foods, produce, healthy foods and vitamins/supplements.
Their main distributor is Natures Best. They chose Natures Best, because Whole Foods Market, a rival has a very good relationship with the only other natural food distributor, United Natural Foods. They target middle class customers. Their main cliche is good "special items" on organic and natural products. Everything a Henry's farmers market is, Sprouts is the same for the most part.
Sprouts is the second specialty market brand developed by the Henry Boney family, who sold their Henry's Farmers Market in 1999.[1] In February 2011, Apollo Global Management announced that it was acquiring Sprouts via its Smart & Final subsidiary, and merging it with Henry's Farmers Market and Sun Harvest. The combined company, which operates under the name Sprouts Farmers Market, has over 100 stores and more than 7,000 employees at the end of 2011.[2][3]
The merger reunites two market chains founded by the Henry Boney Family, which remains active in its management.[4] [5]
Sprouts will continue to operate two locations in Temecula, CA under the Henry's Farmers Market trade name. For all practical purposes, the items carried inside the two stores themselves are identical to what is available at a Sprouts location with one exception; no mention of the Sprouts name is used on signage, advertisements, or private label merchandise. Another store by the name of Sprouts Natural Market (www.sproutsnaturalmarket.net) has been in business in Temecula since 1989. This was prior to Sprouts Farmers Market opening any locations in California. This prevents Sprouts Farmers Market from using their trade name in Temecula, and to avoid confusion among its customers, the Henry's name will continue.