Sprouts Farmers Market is planting the seeds for future growth with plans to roughly double the size of its corporate footprint with a new headquarters development project.
The specialty grocer — one of the fastest-growing chains in the country — finalized a long-term deal for seven acres at the CityNorth development in Phoenix, a short drive away from its current headquarters on the north side of the city. The agreement with Crown Realty Group, the firm spearheading the $2 billion master-planned project, will kick off Sprouts' new 180,000-square-foot campus alongside the company's retail expansion across the United States.
The decision to expand its corporate footprint was simple: the company's workforce had outgrown its existing space and needed additional room to accommodate its fast-moving expansion plans.
“We're looking at this opportunity to move to a new office space, not just for the space, but for the way we work in the future,” Sprouts Chief Human Resources Officer Timmi Zalatoris said in a statement. The plans include a flagship grocery store and other retail components open to the general public, with Zalatoris noting the campus will "further solidify our customer experience and our place in the community here in Arizona."
Construction on the grocer's future headquarters is expected to break ground sometime next month, meaning Sprouts could move in as soon as summer of 2026. Once completed, its new offices will be housed in a 144,500-square-foot building alongside a 25,000-square-foot store; a parking garage; as well as nearly 11,000 square feet slated for other food or retail concepts.
The development will be a significant step up from the roughly 77,000 square feet that Sprouts has been leasing for its corporate hub for the past decade. The grocer signed the deal for the entirety of the building at 5455 E High St. in 2015 and plans to vacate the space once its new headquarters wraps up construction.
Sprouts has been on a tear over the past few years to expand its stake in the national grocery market.
After opening more than 30 locations last year, the company doesn't appear to be slowing down as it moves to open at least another 35 before the end of the year. It currently has about 450 stores open across 24 states, a growth spurt that has resulted in a significant boost to its corporate workforce.
The company is expecting to spend up to $250 million this year on capital expenditures, a large share of which will be investments in new store openings.
"We remain really focused on growing our business through new stores and we're certainly pushing hard to keep moving faster," CEO Jack Sinclair recently said. "We know there are 1,200 sites across the United States that could support Sprouts in terms of the target customer and we also know that we have to get the exactly right place within those geographies to make sure it's going to work. But by and large, we're confident in the number that we've talked for this year, and I'm confident we'll start to build more in the years ahead."