Sprouts Farmers Market is planned for Washington Township (Gloucester County) New Jersey, moving into a “to-be-built” new building on Egg Harbor Road.
Gloucester County is finally getting a premium organic grocery. “Sprouts”!
Washington Township made the news official at noon today, at a formal announcement on site at the Harbor Place Shopping Center.
Sprouts will be developed adjacent to the existing center (where Rita’s, Dollar Tree, TD Bank, Brick Grocery are located)
Sprouts is a large and rapidly growing premium Natural/Organic healthy grocery chain with over 380 locations in the United States.
(Images: Sprouts Media Photos)
They would be Gloucester County’s first national healthy food focused grocery, in a category which also includes Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.
Sprouts differentiates itself by also putting an emphasis on “fresh”, by making and preparing many grocery category items in the store, when their competition uses significantly more prepackaged product.
As an example, last year Sprouts and their in-store deli went viral on social media for their fresh, made-to-order $5 packed deli sandwich deal. Multiple customer video clips reached over a million views each! It actually increased customer visits and revenue! (GroceryDive.com)
Sprouts offers…
- Fresh Deli: Sandwiches and more made in store.
- Full butcher shop, with butchers experienced in answering questions and preparing meat to customer requests.
- Bakery in each store, offering the freshest breads, cookies, cakes, pies and more.
- Fresh Seafood section: Similar to a supermarket experience, not just packaged offsite.
- Organic products: Sprouts is known to have a larger selection of organic products.
- Personal Care: Sprouts offers a wider range of products including vitamins, toiletries and body care.
Washington Township : Your Wish Is Granted!
This is bigger than just Washington Township. This is a win for all of Gloucester County.
Having a grocery in this category in the Gloucester County area has been a top item on the “wish list” for decades!
At the 42Freeway Facebook page, so many readers comment on almost every news item “Why cant we get a Sprout’s/Trader Joe’s/Whole Foods?”, that it’s now become a joke comment for many!
And it was Washington Township and shopping center owner MLG Realty, who landed one first!
In South Jersey, Sprouts has had a location in Marlton since 2019, and another location is currently under development in Westmont, Haddon Township. With the Washington Township store they will have a store in each of the three counties; Burlington, Camden and Gloucester.
Interestingly it seems Washington Township is getting a Sprouts before Cherry Hill… although Cherry Hill may already be too crowded in the organic grocery category, with Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s already in that town.
For the planned Washington Township location, the new building will be developed adjacent to the Harbor Place shopping center which is at the corner of Egg Harbor Rd. and Hurffvile-Grenloch Rd. (Where Rita’s Water Ice and TD Bank are located).
The large plot of undeveloped land next to the existing center was previously approved years ago for a shopping center expansion of smaller stores, and will head to the Planning Board soon for an updated approval.
Since the prior plans for the property were already approved for a commercial retail development, the new direction with Sprouts should be a simple approval ammendment.
The Sprouts building is expected to be in the 28,000-30,000 sq ft size, which is smaller than what was previously approved for the site.
It is believe a “pad” site will be made available in the front parking area for an additional smaller business.
There is an existing traffic signal where Salina Rd meets Egg Harbor Road, and at that point an entrance into the Sprouts parking area will be added.
The two shopping centers will also be connected with an access driveway between them
it is very early in the announcement and planning stages, so they have not provided an expected opening date as of yet.
That being said it seems Sprouts is eager to get started on the project and is expect to submit the formal application and site plan to Washington Township in the next few weeks!
Sprouts Farmers Markets
The Sprouts Farmers Market grocery stores are focused on natural/organic products, but they still carry an extensive product line.
Sprouts seems to really take healthy eating and shopping to the highest level.
They state that approximately 90% of the 19,000 products they carry are natural or organic.. as well as a large selection of gluten free products.
You will not find the top selling sodas or candies at a sprouts… only healthy eating options!
Similar to their healthy competitors, the stores are a smaller size than a full traditional supermarket…but Sprouts still brings with it the full grocery store experience!
A typical store is about 30,000 square feet whereas new full supermarkets developed in the area most recently were about twice the size.
But they still offer a large selection of fresh produce, a deli with prepared entrees and side dishes, a fish market and a butcher shop as well as a large selection of vitamins and supplements.
Coincidentally I recently stopped at the Marlton location to see what Sprouts Farmers Market was all about… for an article I wanted to put up for the Westmont location which is under construction.
At the time I had no idea I would be using those Marlton store images for an article on a new location in Washington Township! But I soon got a tip from someone in the industry that Sprouts was coming to Gloucester County… so I waited for the official announcement today.
In my visit to Marlton, I found the store to be bright, colorful and inviting, and it was more open and had less of claustrophobic feeling of a full sized supermarket with their rows and rows of tall shelving aisles.
Well that’s because they’re focused on only healthy and organic options.
Well there absolutely are product aisles, but it felt like the largest part of the store’s main floor are in Marlton was featuring fresh produce, prepared foods and lower height shelving.
For the size and shelving style I guess our best comparison would be an Aldi store, but the “theming” of a Sprouts store goes much further than Aldi with eye pleasing interior graphics and store design.
Sprouts literally “walks the talk” of just being the best of everything. Their concerns go way beyond providing the healthiest organic foods.
The Sprouts website features their concerns and governance in areas such as human rights, sustainable palm oil, supplier code of conduct, supply chain transparency, responsibly sourced seafood, animal welfare and more.
They won’t put a product in the store unless it meets their strict requirements… including how the product is grown or made, and also the supplier’s processes behind the scenes.
So again this is very early in the announcement phase although the Sprouts is telling the Township they are submitting their application and site plan in April!
This is a big deal. Sprouts is the type of business which grabs the attention of other businesses which may have previously skipping much of Gloucester County. Let’s hope this is the start of something even greater!
Links and Locations
Sprouts Farmers Market Washington Township (Planned)
288 Egg Harbor Road
Washington Township NJ 08080