Sunflower Farmers Market

Sunflower Farmers Market

Type	Private
Founded	2002
Headquarters	Boulder, CO, U.S. and Phoenix, AZ, U.S.
Number of locations	34
Area served	Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah
Key people	Chris Sherrell, President & CEO[1]Press Release
Products	Food, natural food, organic food, frozen foods, grocery items, private-label items, natural living,[2] bath and body care items, vitamins and supplements
Website	[1] [2]

Sunflower Farmers Market is a chain of full-service grocery stores headquartered in Boulder, Colorado and Phoenix, Arizona, which emphasizes value-priced natural and organic products. Sunflower opened its first store in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2002. As of August 2011, Sunflower Farmers Market operates 35 grocery stores located in eight states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Oklahoma^[3] and Texas (where it formerly operated as Newflower Farmers Market).

Contents 1 History 1.1 Expansion 2 Products 2.1 Green Initiatives 3 Awards and Recognition 4 Critique 5 References 6 External links

History

Mike Gilliland, founder of Sunflower Farmers Market, had been involved in the natural and organic food business for 25 years. He co-founded Wild Oats Markets^[3][4] and served as its Chief Executive Officer from 1987 to 2001, growing the company from a single store in Boulder, Colorado to a billion-dollar publicly-traded enterprise with 115 stores throughout the US and Canada.^[5]

In 2002, Gilliland founded Sunflower Farmers Market, which operates natural foods supermarkets throughout the southwestern United States; he served as the company’s Chief Executive Officer.^[3] In February 2011, Gilliland resigned^[1] after being arrested on felony charges; his arrest came as a result of a sting operation involving child prostitution.^[6] Chris Sherrell, Sunflower's president at the time, was subsequently named acting CEO.^[1] He was appointed permanent CEO three months later.^[7]

Expansion

Since its founding in 2002, Sunflower Farmers Market has opened 35 stores. As of August 2011, Sunflower is planning to open an additional store in Modesto, California which will open October 12, 2011.

Products

Sunflower Farmers Market aims to develop the value segment of the natural and organic foods retailing industry.^[8] Sunflower’s motto is “Serious Food…Silly Prices.” Sunflower offers produce, meat, fish, bulk foods and coffee, deli foods, natural bath and body care items, vitamins and supplements^[4] and, in some locations, beer and wine.

Sunflower Farmers Market endeavors to keep prices low by keeping their overhead low, foregoing certain light fixtures and high rents.^[9] Sunflower also buys big, purchasing almost everything by the pallet or truckload, and sourcing directly,^[9][10] and paying vendors quickly. They don’t charge vendors “slotting allowances” or shelf-space fees, and they negotiate on prices.^[11]

Green Initiatives

• As Sunflower grows, they continue to develop new stores with eco-friendly initiatives in mind, conserving building materials and using techniques that have a friendly impact on the planet.
• Some Sunflower stores offer reserved parking spaces for alternative fuel vehicles, bathrooms equipped with waterless urinals, wind power, refurbished fixtures and a lighting program which is programmed to turn itself down as natural light flows through skylights.^[11][12]
• Sunflower offers over 275 foods in bulk, reducing the amount of plastic packaging used.
• Sunflower encourages the use of re-usable grocery bags in place of paper or plastic bags.
• Sunflower offers a 10 cent discount for every paper, plastic, or cloth bag a customer brings in to bag groceries.
• Every Sunflower store collects and recycles plastic grocery bags.
• Sunflower hosts in-store events benefiting environmentally-active, not-for-profit organizations.
• Sunflower uses recycled and refurbished equipment, cases and fixtures whenever possible.^[13]
• Sunflower reduces fuel consumption by coordinating trucking in-house, maximizing truck capacities, and ensuring proper tire pressure on all trucks.^[12]

Awards and Recognition

• Tucson Weekly – Best of Tucson – Best Organic Food Store^[14]
• Albuquerque the Magazine – Best of the City – Best Grocery Store
• International Council of Shopping Centers – 2010 Hot Retailers Award^[15]
• Best of Burque 2010 – Best Everyday Grocery Store (2nd Place); Best Produce Selection^[16]
• Best of Boulder 2010 – Honorable Mention for best Natural Foods Store^[17]
• Colorado Springs Independent – Best Natural Foods Store (2nd Place)^[18]
• Colorado Daily – CU & Boulder’s Best 2010 – Best Grocery (runner up)^[19]
• Grocery Headquarters – Natural/Organic Supermarket Retailer of the Year^[20]
• Colorado Springs The Gazette – Best of the Springs 2010 – Best Farmers Market (Bronze Winner)^[21]
• ColoradoBiz 2010 CEO of the Year Award^[3]
• Boulder Chamber of Commerce 2010 Entrepreneur of Distinction Award^[22]

Critique

• The Wall Street Journal = Copycat Farmers' Markets Reap a Crop of Complaints ^[23]

References

External links

• Official site
• Official Facebook page