It’s never easy being the new kid on the block. But going the extra mile to boost your popularity is a big help.
That pretty much sums up the strategy that Sprouts Farmers Market used when the health foods grocery retailer moved its unique brand of merchandising to the Atlanta area in June — its first stores east of the Mississippi River.
Sprouts, whose philosophy has always been to help customers live a healthy lifestyle with natural and organic foods at affordable prices, started as a single store in Chandler, Ariz., in 2002. The chain now operates 191 stores in 11 states and went public last year, selling nearly 18 million shares in its initial public offering.
The retailer has supplemented its stores by becoming a healthy living resource for customers, offering recipes, how-to videos, wellness webinars and other content on its website.
“We’ve primarily been a Southwest brand. We started in Arizona and quickly expanded to Texas and Colorado. But those were natural expansions that didn’t require a change in marketing strategy,” says Maggie Fearnow, Sprouts’ senior director of marketing.
“Georgia was the last market we went into. We only open stores in the first three quarters of the year, so we’re enjoying some strategy planning for 2015,” she says, noting that the company will be going into Huntsville and Birmingham, Ala., in the first quarter.
To learn more about Sprouts Farmer’s Market’s brand recognition and shifting strategy, read here.
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