Sprouts Taps Petco's Nicholas Konat as President, COO

Sprouts Farmers Market Inc. has hired Nicholas Konat to serve as president and chief operating officer of the company, effective March 21.

Konat, who most recently was chief merchandising officer for Petco Health and Wellness Company Inc., will oversee the grocer’s operations, marketing, merchandising and innovation functions and report to CEO Jack Sinclair.

“I am absolutely thrilled to welcome Nick to the Sprouts executive leadership team,” said Sinclair in a statement.

The Phoenix-based grocer, which reported Feb. 24 that it saw a dip in sales during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, said this new hire will help set the company up for continued growth.

“Nick’s deep-rooted merchandising and product innovation experience with preeminent retail brands will help to propel our company forward as we continue to execute on our strategic plan.”

Konat joined Petco in 2015 and prior to his appointment as chief merchandising officer in 2018, served as VP of private brands and merchandising and SVP–general manager.

Prior to joining Petco, Konat was director of food merchandise planning for Target Corp., capping a more than nine-year career at Target, where he held a range of merchandising, planning and leadership roles across the food and fashion categories.

Konat, who spent six years with Accenture PLC, a multinational professional services company, holds an honors bachelor’s degree in political science and government from St. John’s University.

“I am honored to join Sprouts and look forward to working with the team as we continue to profitably grow by fulfilling our mission of providing healthy living options for less to more people,” said Konat in a statement.  “Sprouts pioneered making healthy food affordable twenty years ago, and I hope to build on this foundation by serving our customers, making lasting positive changes to the company and improving access to fresh, natural and organic foods as we expand across the country.”

Sprouts employs approximately 31,000 team members and operates more than 370 stores in 23 states nationwide. Recently the company announced it’s putting the finishing touches on its new store, a 20,000-square-foot store at 2631 NE. 10th Court in Homestead, Fla., with doors set to open April 1.