annetti

I can't tell from the website just what to expect. Is it like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's or closer to Von's and Ralph's? Is it a Bristol Farms clone? Would love a place that offers a lot of organic vegetables, perhaps caters a bit to a vegetarian clientele and has a decent deli counter. Anyone familiar with this market?

HappyTrvlr

I prefer Whole Foods to Sprouts myself.

annetti

HappyTrvlr: Whole Foods tops our list, but it's not close by and out of the way for us, though we shop there frequently. Sprouts will be a two minute drive from our house. How does Sprouts compare with Whole Foods? Is it somewhat similar? Just not as good???? Can you or someone else tell me more. Thanks.

cferrb

It is not nearly as fancy as Whole Foods and it doesn't sell the high-end products. It has a very large fresh produce section, which my husband says is supplied by smaller farmers who can't compete to sell their produce to the large market chains. The produce is usually cheaper than that at the larger market chains and I have always been very happy with the quality. There is also a large bulk foods section, where you can just scoop out what you want and put it into a plastic bag. Products include quinoa, yogurt covered pretzels, all kinds of nuts (and I think beans) different grains and lots of other stuff. They have one of my favorite products from the old Berkeley coop -- whole grain fig newtons and peach/apricot bars. Packaged foods tend to be "healthy." There is a butcher section and a deli, and some bakery products, which also tend to be "healthy." We really like our Sprouts here in Culver City, and it is very busy. It should be a good addition to your community.

annetti

cferrb: Thanks for a really terrific review. It sounds good . BTW, I remember those fig newton bars; I loved them, too. Is there a lot of organic produce? Thanks again.

sf7307

cferrb, are the bulk products less expensive than Whole Foods? WF has a really extensive bulk foods section in my area, but it's $$$$.

bigtyke

I had access to Whole Foods, Sprouts, Trader Joe's and one not mentioned - Sunflower in the Phoenix area. I prefer Sprouts and Sunflower for ordinary shopping. I find WF too expensive. I like TJ for special items but do not go there for ordinary shopping. Sprouts has good weekly specials advertised in the newspaper like typical supermarkets.

annetti

Thanks, bigtyke. Do they have a good and cheaper organic foods section?

Barbara

I didn't know that Sprouts and Henry's are an "AKA". We have both.

annetti

Barbara, I am pretty sure I read somewhere that family members own both market chains and have agreed to merge. At any rate, the city originally posted that Henry's was opening up near us and now the news is that it is Sprouts. Could be wrong, but I was told that they are the same ownership.

Deb15July

Well here in Atlanta we have Whole Foods and Trader Joe's. I've never heard of the others, but then again we have Fresh Market, Super H-Mart which you've not mentioned.

I love Trader Joe's for reasonable prices and good frozen stuff. I know frozen is not ideal, but I feel like the quality is good and I LOVE some of the appetizers.

I work next to a Whole Foods, and while I think it has great stuff...I rarely shop there due to the exorbitant prices. I'm surprised no one used my favorite nickname...Whole Paycheck!

jcb

My Sprouts (Dallas, TX) has a very SMALL amount of organic fruits/veggies. I shop there occassionally b/c the produce is really cheap. However, it is very ripe, so if you don't eat it soon, it spoils. The stores are very small and nothing like Whole Foods.

IMO, the ground beef tastes wonderful.

annetti

jcb: Thanks for answering my question.

MonicaRichards

According to the Sprouts website, they are merging with Henry's and they were founded by the same family years apart. I like Henry's whole wheat fig bars, something that is strangely hard to find in the Bay Area. I just bought a ton on our recent trip to San Diego to freeze, now I come to find out that if Sprouts = Henry's and there is a Henry's in Sunnyvale, I could have just gotten the fig bars there... Silly me.

annetti

Sprouts opened here three days ago and it was packed with customers. They gave away with all purchases free Sprouts canvas shopping bags - bright green - they should be good advertisement for the store.

On first impression, and with the added gaiety of its grand opening, Sprouts feels very lively and pleasant. As cferrb mentions their produce is quite cheap, though their limited organic is similarly priced to other stores nearby.

They carry a few health type brands that are unfamiliar to us and we have not seen at Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. Their organic crunchy peanut butter is very good. They also carry a lot of our favorites. Otherwise there is an overlap of these two stores. Sprouts has a real butcher, something not seen at the typical Von's/Safeway supermarkets much anymore.

Lots of bulk foods, but way too many people sampling and eating out of the bins, cheerfully spreading their germs. (I see this a lot at Whole Foods, too.;I guess it's hard to admonish people who are just "sampling in their minds" without antagonizing them.) However, I find it off-putting and would only buy from the beans, flours, bins, where people are unlikely to taste the goods.

Overall, a good impression, for us, and we found some of their items more attractively priced than Whole Foods, though N's favorite cereal is cheaper at Trader Joes. Sprouts should be stiff competition for Safeway/right across the street, where the staff (or at least I find it) very dour and sometimes unpleasant.

We are very lucky, food market wise, we have several Von's near us, a Ralph's market, a Pavilion, Bristol Farms, 3 Trader Joe's, a Stater Bros, 4 or 5 Farmers' Markets, Fresh and Easy, and now Sprouts. Sprouts, however is the closest to us and it may very well become our favorite, though nothing will probably stop us from our Sunday visit to our vibrant Farmers' Market.

hpeabody

I have a sense you may live near me. I went to the new Sprouts on Woodruff and liked it very much. I am eating the strawberries and blueberries I bought at this very moment as I read Fodor's. Yummmmmmmm

annetti

hpeabody:I think we are neighbors. The organic strawberries we bought at Sprouts were wonderful! Very sweet. It looks like the store will do well. I hope so, the neighborhood needed a something different from the standard Vons and Ralphs. Have you been in Von's since Sprouts opened? I wonder how they are doing? I predicet they will have open stock bins very shortly.

LSky

Whole Foods can be frustrating. I go in expecting a nice selection of organic food and am often disappointed. Then their regular produce is expensive still.

I like Sprouts/Henrys.

My favorite food store in San Diego is Jimbos Naturally. It's a small chain, 4 stores but the organic produce is good and I love their deli selections (the baked tofu is scrumptious)

annetti

Lsky,we did a home exchange in San Diego, in late April. Did not know about Jimbos or Sprouts, either for that matter. We ended up doing all our shopping at Whole Foods. It was okay, but once you have shopped in Whole Foods, you sort of know what to expect. Though the WF is SD had a gelato bar which ours did not (ours does, too now), but boy was that disappointing, though it looks very nice. I wished it tasted better, oh well one less temptation. . .

We're in Santa Barbara now on a home exchange, and there's a wonderful market, Lazy Acres, (a one store stand alone market) that is very nice and conveniently down the street from us.