Front & Center

Fresh is first and foremost at Sprouts Farmers Market in Culver City, Calif.

Walk into most any supermarket, and the first thing one usually sees is a lush, colorful produce department.

That much can be said about a Sprouts Farmers Market, but that's where the typical ends. Center store? At Sprouts, produce is, literally, the center of the store. "Our market is built on this produce," says regional manager Everett Barker.

That's no different for the Sprouts in Culver City, Calif., one of the Phoenix-based chain's newest locations. Opened in June 2010, this location is a little bigger, a little edgier and even a little greener than its sister stores throughout Arizona, California, Texas and Colorado.

"Culver City was our first urban market," Doug Sanders, Sprouts president, explains of the 33,000-square-foot market, located in a former Circuit City store in a bustling city neighborhood. "It was also the first LEED-certified and [was] awarded EPA's GreenChill certification, our eighth store to receive the honor. This is also the first location to have the new décor package with an updated look and concrete floors."

Sanders adds: "Based on the success of the Culver City store, this will likely create more opportunities" for urban locations.

Barker says the store serves a diverse clientele. "It really represents the neighborhood well," he notes.

Sanders describes the neighborhood before Sprouts opened as a natural food desert. "There were no natural food stores in the area and a huge interest in what we offer," he says. "Gluten-free is in great demand, and [there's] an incredible thirst for natural foods."

Sprouts addresses that thirst with many of its trademarks: low-profile shelves; no aisle markers; no self-checkout; produce at center store with a farmers' market feel, surrounded by all the other departments; natural and organic grocery items; and a healthy approach through all departments.

"Sprouts is very big on service," Sanders says. "This is a high-touch, high-communication business. Natural foods does not sell itself — you have to sell it. When you walk through a Sprouts, you will always find many employees out and about, ready to help customers."

That attitude is instilled in employees on a daily basis during store manager David Farney's "morning huddles" with department managers and afternoon "service rallies" with all employees, right on the sales floor.

"We get everyone — clerks, baggers, checkers — to talk about service," says Farney, who at press-time was slated to take over management of Sprouts' Lakewood, Calif., store. "We meet on the floor, and often customers get involved." The group discusses service and safety, and shares stories about dealing with customers, such as helping someone out to her car with a load of groceries or delivering a forgotten item to a customer's home. "We want them to feel they're a part of our overall operations," Farney says of team members.

Sights to See

A visit to the Culver City market is a unique experience, mainly because one can see the entire store from just about any location.

"We designed it so you could see the meat department from every corner of the store," Barker says. "When you walk in, you can see dairy, you can see produce, you can see all the service counters. We take a lot of pride in keeping our sight lines low. … I love that people can see the big red barn [over the dairy case] when they walk in."

Here, produce is the centerpiece, occupying most of the center of the market and generating 25 percent to 30 percent of the store's total sales, according to Barker. "It's the staple of our business — economically priced, of course," he says. At the time of PG's visit, bananas were priced at 69 cents a pound, while a pound of Roma tomatoes retailed for 99 cents.

There are at least 70 organic items among the 200 to 250 produce SKUs. "We try to buy as local as we can," Barker says. "We make less margin than most but so much more sales. … No gimmicks, no club cards — what you see is what you get."

Rodrigo Padilla, regional produce merchandiser, adds: "You can't beat it."

Produce is delivered six days a week. The chain was scheduled to open a California warehouse in June, permitting the company to capture better deals. "We've been going DSD for five years," Barker says. "Now we can buy bigger and get better deals for lower retails."

Price isn't the only benefit for shoppers; customers can sample any product upon request. "We'll open a pear or slice a grapefruit," Barker says.

"There is a person here from open to close," Farney adds. "You can always get an employee that knows something about the department."

The market offers 25,000 square feet of on-floor space. "This is a perfect spot for us. It's a little bigger than normal, but it gives us room for these pods," Barker says, noting the floor display units, which range from waist- to chest-high. "All of our cooler space is smaller than conventional. … We try to get more turns, more deliveries."

Turning to the perimeter, the full-service meat department — which accounts for up to 15 percent of total sales — offers all-natural beef and organic chicken; the beef, pork and poultry are all vegetarian-fed, Barker notes, and the pork is free of sodium-based solutions.

All meat is choice or better and cut to order. "Open to close, there's always someone here to cut meat," Barker says, noting the store also offers up to 20 varieties of house-made sausage. "People come here just for that — it's a destination item."

A couple times a year, the market will carry prime cuts as well as buffalo. "It does really well — we sell out," says Larry Stephens, regional meat merchandiser. "Grind is big — all 100 percent muscle, ground in-house." For example, the store's organic 85/15 ground sirloin (priced at $3.29 per pound at the time of PG's visit) is a popular item.

Seafood, with an emphasis on wild species, is delivered six days a week. Staples include wild salmon, farm-raised salmon, trout, catfish, tuna, tilapia, cod, seasonal local halibut, red snapper, shark, shell-on raw shrimp and cooked shrimp.

Wine and beer also are offered in unique fashion. Wines, including many local labels, a few organic brands and some sulfite-free varieties as well, are located directly across from the meat department, allowing for convenient pairings.

"We try to stay at $3 to $9 [per bottle] — definitely value-priced," Barker says, adding that wine accounts for about 3 percent of total sales. "We do a lot of 2-fers and 3-fers. We specialize in that $3.99 bottle," though some new SKUs go as high as $20.

The beer cooler is highly specialized, with about 80 varieties of microcraft and imported beers. "It's all craft beers — no domestics [mass-market brands]," Barker stresses.

The market's deli counter serves up many popular prepared items, capturing a brisk lunch and dinner trade, along with up to 12 percent of the store's overall sales. "Our big items are our entrees, all made in-house," Barker says. "Grab and go, all fully cooked and ready to warm up."

Deli manager Kimberlynn Burton explains that her department offers up to 12 meats, depending on the season; for example, cranberry sage turkey is popular around Thanksgiving. "On a normal day, we have 20 different items and 20 sides," Burton says, noting that fettuccine Alfredo is among the deli's most popular entrees. "Our turkey meatloaf flies off the shelf, and our turkey dinner" is also highly popular, she observes.

Sprouts also is known chainwide for its made-to-order sandwiches, which normally sell for $3.99. Among other traditional deli products, pre-packaged meat is all freshly sliced in 1-pound packages. Cheese, including block and specialty varieties, accounts for about one-third of the business for the deli, which carries about 200 cheese SKUs. "Muenster's a big seller. Gouda flies off the shelf," Burton says, noting that the holiday season is a particularly important period for cheese sales. "Every holiday, we go big [on seasonal specials] and do well against the conventional [supermarkets]. That's a real big deal with us."

Rounding out this side of the market is the bakery, which finishes par-baked items in house, including cookies and artisan breads. There's also an expanding selection of gluten-free products. "We lean toward the healthy side," Barker says. "We've come a long way on SKUs in this department. A lot of things we carry, the conventional [markets] start carrying."

Bulking Up

Beyond produce, Sprouts is particularly proud of its bulk food section, which offers at least 200 items, including nuts, fruits, candies and grains.

"Bulk foods is something a lot of stores don't do. Nobody does it like we do," Barker says, noting that this section generates up to 12 percent of the market's total sales, with margins of up to 90 percent. "This is a new customer's favorite department."

Bulk spices and teas — more than 50 items, sold by the pound — are located in the grocery section. "It doesn't turn a lot of dollars, but it's here for the service aspect," Barker says. "It's a big deal to us."

As with produce, shoppers may sample any bulk item before buying, and the store can get just about any bulk item customers want. "We will demo anything in the store. We will open any bag. It's part of our 'yes' policy," Barker says, explaining that all employees are empowered to address customer issues, including samples, refunds and replacements. "Most places, you have to go through the register and the manager. We want to get past that."

As a natural extension of Sprouts' wellness halo that encompasses produce plus natural and organic products, the market's vitamin section is massive: 7,000 SKUs of all-natural products. "We're not into synthetic vitamins," says Gary Dolman, the former vitamin regional manager recently reassigned to the deli department. "Our body care is all natural." Barker says vitamins account for about 10 percent of this store's business, thought it's as high as 20 percent at other stores in the chain.

Farney adds: "We stand behind our purchases," explaining that the store will take vitamins back if customers feel they weren't effective.

Similarly, Sprouts is riding the gluten-free wave, stocking some 2,000 gluten-free items, up from 500 five years ago, says Barker, noting that gluten-free items are clearly marked on the shelf, which is reinforced with a detailed guide of all gluten-free products carried. Beyond grocery, gluten-free products take up a sizeable part of the frozen food department as well.

Dairy, which accounts for 8 percent to 10 percent of total sales, includes natural and organic milk, as well as raw milk and dairy substitutes, with more soymilk SKUs than most conventional stores. "We have a huge section of soy and meat replacements," Barker says. "The soy section has gotten huge."

Part of Something Bigger

Sprouts operates on a three-point mission, Barker explains: customer service, value and store conditions. It's obvious that the Culver City store team is laser-sighted on these goals.

For example, Barker relates, while most supermarkets stock shelves at night, "we stock during the day for one reason: service. It's less efficient, but it's more important to help the customer."

Sprouts also is dedicated to helping local vendors. "We like to help get the small guys get started," Barker says. For example, he explains, tortilla chips from a local company are carried in 17 Sprouts markets, along with salsas from local Mexican restaurants.

"Every region has autonomy to go out and get local items," Barker says of the company. "We work with corporate, which allows us to work with local vendors. We're big on helping the little guy. We were little once."

Sprouts also has a robust private label program with products across all categories, the latest being frozen fruit and vegetables, and macaroni and cheese. "We take our private label very seriously," Barker says. "We do product cuttings — we have employees taste them at the rallies."

Beyond products, Sprouts has been a boon to the local economy. A month before opening in June 2010, the Culver City store hosted a job fair, which 1,500 people attended; 110 people ended up getting hired. "They lined up super-early," recalls Barker, a former Albertsons employee. "Our dairy manager was like 12th in line."

Sanders calls Sprouts a "pro-employee company" that's "employee-focused [with] lots of opportunity for upward mobility, due to rapid growth. We are selling a lifestyle — improving customer health, making a difference, being a part of something bigger."

Since the store opened, its clientele has included celebrities, due to its proximity to TV and movie production studios. "We consistently have many character actors come through on a weekly basis," Farney says, noting that most are known more by face than name. However, he mentions that he's seen actor Seth Green and numerous professional sports figures in the store.

But regardless of a customer's claim to fame, Sprouts' message is the same: healthy living for less. "We try to dispel the notion that healthy food tastes bad — it's just not so anymore," Sanders says. "We are competing for the 'conventional' customer. We want to win over customers with healthy foods that will improve their lives."