Sprouts has big growth plans in FloridaSprouts has big growth plans in Florida

Specialty grocer Sprouts Farmers Market has big plans for Florida.

The Phoenix-based retailer this week said it intends to open seven new stores in the state this year, with the first slated to debut in St. Johns on Friday. That will be followed by additional locations across Orlando, St. Petersburg, and Palm Beach County.

The openings, however, were delayed by Hurricane Milton, the grocer said in October during its third-quarter earnings announcement.

Sprouts has long seen opportunity in Florida, a state with a fast-growing population.

“What’s really encouraging is we look at places like Florida where four or five years ago, we had 15 stores and we’re approaching 50 now,” CFO Curtis Valentine said during the Goldman Sachs Global Retailing Conference in September, according to a transcript from financial services site AlphaSense. “We’ve seen really good performance and good results.”

Valentine added that Miami remains an area of opportunity for the brand.

In the next three years or so, Sprouts expects to have a “pretty good path in the smile of America, as we say, which is up and down the coast and across the South,” Valentine said. “And then, eventually, we need to get over into the Midwest where there’s a big white space opportunity for us as well.”

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Sprouts said it will hire about 650 people across Florida to staff the new stores, in roles including clerks, specialty positions, assistant department managers, and upper management.

Upcoming on Sprouts’ Florida opening calendar are stores in Melbourne (March 14), Largo (March 21), and Coconut Creek (April 25).

Sprouts, which focuses on natural and organic foods, currently operates about 440 stores across 24 states. But CEO Jack Sinclair said at an investor conference in December that the retailer believes it can reach 1,200 locations across the country.

For several years, the grocer has said its goal is to grow its units by 10% each year. It opened 12 new stores in 2021, 16 in 2022, 30 in 2023, and 33 in 2024.

“So, it’s been 8% the last couple of years,” Valentine said at the Nasdaq Investor Conference in December. “Next year, we’ll do at least 35 and then we’re on a journey back to that 10%.”