Sprouts Farmers Market, a growing grocery store chain that is approaching 400 stores nationwide, is opening its fourth Southwest Florida location this weekend.
Located at 8595 College Parkway, Suite 210, Sprouts will be rejuvenating College Plaza Shopping Center on the corner of Winkler Road and College Parkway in south Fort Myers, said Chad Endy, who moved his family from Philadelphia to manage the store.
As part of its grand opening, the store will be selling almost all groceries at a 20% discount, Friday through Sunday. The first 200 shoppers will be given a gift bag. The store is open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
“I’m just excited to serve new customers in this area,” said Endy, 34, who previously managed a Giant Food Store in Pennsylvania. “I started this process with Sprouts almost eight months ago. Interviewing for the position. Very first team member on board.”
Endy went on to hire 83 employees.
While Sprouts has ready-made meals and a wide array of groceries, it is known best for one thing, Endy said.
“It’s our produce,” he said. “Our fresh produce. We partner with the local farmers. We have a lot of locally grown produce that we get from Florida. Our organic and gluten-free selections that we have here in the store are really what we have been known for.”
Near the front of the store, Sprouts also has an innovation hub, a miniature aisle of unique products. If they sell well, Sprouts adds them to its regular rotation of groceries.
The new store should breathe life into a shopping center that has not had an anchor retail tenant in years. The 15,000 square feet of space previously had been a medical phone call center and prior to that, a Planned Parenthood location.
New York-based DLC Management Corp. purchased the 85,000-square-foot center in May 2020.
Neighboring tenants were pleased with both the arrival of Sprouts and the work to redo the façade. That multimillion-dollar project should be completed by the end of August.
“Sprouts is something different,” said Michael Mueckenhausen, who owns No. 1 Lobster Rolls and Mama Rita’s German Restaurant & Bakery, both of which are in the same No. 3 unit at the plaza.
Smoothie King, Domino’s, 3 Pepper Burrito and a Starbucks are some of the other neighboring tenants.
“I think it will draw more people to this place,” Mueckenhausen said. “People will see a lot of the changes. I hope it helps our business. I’m very happy and even more happy now that Sprouts is over there. I think it’s a good grocery store for me, because they have all fresh food. It’s a great concept. It will definitely bring new life to the old center over there.”
Bike Route Inc., a bicycle shop in Suite 200, has been at the plaza for about 20 years.
“It will help immensely,” store co-owner and president Bill Wallstedt said of the shopping plaza’s makeover. “The planters have been redone. The parking lot and all the curbing have been redone. The lawn has been redone. The trees have been improved. And having a big draw like Sprouts is a good thing.”
