Retail News: Houston to lose multiple Sprouts locations as part of larger cuts

Sprouts Farmers Market has announced plans to close 11 stores in the coming month in multiple states. Thanks to a tip submitted by an anonymous source to Houston Historic Retail, our market can expect to lose three locations by the start of April. Sprout’s official reasoning behind the cuts is under performance, with a focus on closing larger stores in favor of smaller locations. The three locations supposedly on the chopping block include Westheimer at Kirkwood, OST and Kirby, and Sugar Land. Based on Google reviews of the OST location, it seems that this information has recently become public knowledge. The claim of cutting down on larger stores would explain the choice of the Westheimer and Kirkwood location which sits in a building originally constructed for Continental Finer Foods, and later enlarged by HEB for a Pantry Foods. The Sugar Land location is also about 5k Square Feet larger than Sprouts new targeted goal of 25k Sq ft. This does leave OST & Kirby as the odd man out. Opening in late 2020 and being featured on HHR about a month ago, this Sprouts location is built to new standards, and is a surprise for the closure list. Although based on the pandemic limited development opportunities over the past two years, it is understandable that this location may not have lived up to expectations. While this move is a loss for Houston, overall it seems that Sprouts is continuing to build their smaller locations in other parts of the country. These closures will also widen the gap between Sprouts and Whole Foods, who is Houston’s leading ‘natural grocer’ in terms of number of locations.