Sprouts Farmers Market held its third quarter conference call Oct. 29, covering not only financial results but several other topics, including its plans around new store growth.
By the end of this year, the Phoenix, Arizona-based grocer will have opened more stores than originally planned, and the pace will continue to ramp up, company executives said during the call.
“We are pleased that we plan to open 37 stores in 2025, exceeding our original target of 35 [for fiscal 2025],” said Jack Sinclair, CEO. “We continued to expand our store presence from sea to shining sea.”
Sinclair added that the company has added 3,700 new team members, or “Sprouties,” to its ranks to steward the new stores.
Nine of the locations opened in the third quarter – a 13-week period ended Sept. 28 – for a total of 464 stores in 24 states.
Sinclair said there are 140 approved locations on the books, with growth focused on the Midwest and Northeast.
“We’re going to get to a lot more states over the next year or two,” he said.
An October investor deck from Sprouts highlighted the expansion states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.
New stores performing well despite economic challenges
For the third quarter, Sprouts’ net sales totaled $2.2 billion, a 13 percent increase from the same period in 2024. Comparable store sales grew 5.9 percent.
“While it was a solid third quarter, it fell short of our top-line expectations,” Sinclair acknowledged. “As the quarter progressed, our comp sales moderated faster than expected, as we came up against challenging year-on-year comparisons, as well as signs of a softening consumer.
“As we look ahead, the investments we have made provide us with levers to manage our business and deliver earnings growth.”
Sinclair said the Sprouts that have opened thus far in 2025 are performing well in terms of both top-line revenue and bottom-line profitability, and those that were opened in ’24 are seeing good comp-store sales as well, “further validating the effectiveness of our model.”
CFO Curtis Valentine added that the company is “encouraged by our new store performance and the positive response we are getting from customers as we enter new communities across the country.”
Sinclair said one factor in new stores’ success is that Sprouts is getting better at understanding where to build them.
Building stores near where health enthusiast customers live is working well, he said, adding that “the marketing team has done a really nice job … communicating the values and what we have as a business within each market.”
Sprouts also has started making a concerted effort to reach out to communities ahead of store openings.
“One of the things that’s been really positive in the way that we’ve marketed those new stores is more about … getting into the local community and getting more local earlier in the process – to really build some excitement around the store and enthusiasm in the local community,” Valentine said.
“It’s about telling our story; it’s about engaging with the community. And we’ve seen a lot of positive traction when we’ve showed up in some new places.”
True to their farmstand roots, Sprouts stores feature an open layout with fresh produce at the center. On the perimeter are “wholesome, innovative products” – with about 70 percent of them organic, plant-based and/or gluten-free.
A clear purpose
Sinclair said that Sprouts operates according to a clear purpose: To help people live and eat better.
“The opportunity that we’ve got to do that by taking our brand across the country into places where they don’t exist is a key part of what we want to achieve going forward,” he said.
“We’re absolutely delighted by the way new stores are opening, and the teams that are making this happen are doing a terrific job.”
The plan is to open even more stores in 2026 than in 2025, with an eye toward achieving 10 percent unit growth in 2027, Valentine said.
“The customer is telling us they’re looking for a Sprouts and a Sprouts-like solution, and we’re excited to get into as many communities as we can over the long term,” he continued.
“We’ll see how the pipeline plays out and those types of things. But right now, we’re pretty bullish on the white space and pretty bullish on the performance we’ve seen.”
Sinclair added, “We’re full steam ahead on building stores. We’re excited about that.”
[RELATED: Sprouts Farmers Market, Careit Rescue 30M Pounds Of Food Waste]