Originally announced last fall, a new Sprouts Farmers Market for West Deptford heads to the Planning Board on Tuesday January 23rd, looking for full Township approval of the project.
The all-new Sprouts will be developed in the Southwood Shopping center on Route 45 (Mantua Pike), on the right side of the shopping center.
The development effort is being presented by the owners of the Southwood Shopping Center, who took over ownership of the Shopping Center just a few years ago. The building will be developed to Sprouts specifications but likely this means the grocery will be tenants in the space.
For this West Deptford public hearing, the applicant is seeking preliminary and final site plan approval from the township. It is important to note that these hearings can be postponed without further public notice.
The all new construction 23,256 square foot Sprouts will be developed on the right side of the Southwood Shopping Center.
That right-most segment of the building which was most recently home to an ALDI, will be demolished so that a new building matching Sprouts requirements can be developed.
The Southwood Shopping Center is significantly angled away from Route 45 on the right side, which positions a larger parking area in front of the proposed Sprouts store.
I had a chance today to stop at the West Deptford municipal building and review the plans. Unfortunately, I do not have images to share with readers ahead of the Planning Board meeting.
Overall the plans for the new grocery store are basically the same as what 42Freeway wrote about on October 31st.
One aspect I noticed today when reviewing the plans is that the new Southwood Sprouts will extend further in front of the shopping center, to accommodate the standard store format that Sprouts has been developing.
To add extra context to that, a few years ago Sprouts decided to shift new store development to a smaller sized building of around 23,256 square feet (10,000 sf smaller than Marlton).
Along with the store size shift, a standardized set of Sprouts blueprints were designed which cover all aspects of the exterior and interior construction (including store shelving and displays), in a standardized footprint.
This can save significantly on development costs as new location projects are starting with a core already created set of designs. This could mean smaller adjustments for each location, instead of starting from scratch with each project.
It’s a model that I see regularly in the fast food industry where each brand may have a few pre-designed store models available. I’ll see them referenced in construction documents with design model numbers (i.e, “Model V6-2”)
Which I assume is why the West Deptford Sprouts will extend a bit in front… to accommodate a more standardized Sprouts design which is helpful to keep overall costs down.
The public notice states that a total of 94,000 square feet is being constructed… But I believe that much larger number relates to the entire shopping center, which is expected to be remodeled as part of this project. My understanding is only the Sprouts building section will be “new”.
With the original announcement for Sprouts in the fall, the full shopping center remodel was called out specifically in that press release.
As is always the case, there will be some variances looking for approval, and for this Southwood Shopping Center project there are some pre-existing, and others related to the new development.
Generally speaking it’s the same top three variance requests that are in almost every planning board meeting… Signage (Size and number), parking spaces and boundary setbacks.
Interestingly, in regards to impervious coverage, the new plan will actually reduce the amount of covered space by 3,300 square feet within the site.
It appears that the West Deptford Sprouts project is not looking to adjust any of the drive away access points off of Route 45. If that is the case, this further streamlines the full approval and development cycle by not having to coordinate as much with the State of New Jersey (who are responsible for Route 45)
Sprouts South Jersey
Last fall Sprouts opened a new grocery store in Haddon Township (Westmont) on Cuthbert Boulevard. In Westmont the Sprouts is located directly next to a small-format Target.
The Westmont store was also developed with a smaller Sprouts design of around 23,000 sf (similar size to what is planned for West Deptford and Washington Twp).
These stores are all smaller than the Marlton location which opened in 2019 at a much larger at 33,000 sf.
The newer Sprouts design positions them between the store size of a Trader Joe’s (smaller) and the older/larger Sprouts design that they have in Marlton.
Also in October of last year a new Sprouts was approved for Washington Township (Gloucester County) on Egg Harbor Rd. That store is also this newer design and size.
Basically, the already opened Haddon Township location, the approved Washington Township location and the upcoming West Deptford location are all following a similar pattern of 23,000 square feet.
I know many will ask about the status of Washington Township store and I can tell you that it has moved to the contractor bidding phase, and has recently been seen on contractor bidding websites.
Related to the Washington Township location I’ll simply add that I may be doing a short video on this later today… The core theme is I don’t think the general public understands how much additional work still has to be done after the Planning approvesl
Coordinating with County and State road departments (when needed), as well as utilities such as the MUA.. can be a very time consuming and expensive process for all parties involved so many times the more lower-level details are not fully worked out until there is a municipality approval in-hand.
Sprouts Farmers Market
Sprouts Farmers Market is a healthy grocer offering a unique open design with fresh produce as a core aspect of the store.
That being said they offer a full grocery experience in a smaller footprint, while still offering a familiar “perimeter” counter experience with full deli, meat and seafood counters… as well as a large focus on organic, plant based and gluten free products.
To round out the shopping experience there is a full frozen and refrigerated/freezer section, as well as more traditional aisles for packaged products.
They also are able to offer a large pay-by-weight bulk goods section offering fresh coffees, trail mixes, snacks and nuts.
For South Jersey, Sprouts has open locations in Marlton and Haddon Township, and recently a location was approved for Washington Township.
My most recent visit to a Sprouts location was last fall when the Haddon Township store had its Grand Opening.
inside, the stores are very bright with colorful signage around the side walls and throughout the store.
As mentioned they are larger than a typical Trader Joe’s but definitely not as big as a full grocery. In comparison over, in Blackwood NJ (on the same evening) a new ShopRite store heads to the Gloucester Township planning board… that ShopRite is set to be almost four times the size of a newer Sprouts.
That being said Sprouts is able to provide a full grocery experience with fresh food being prepared, by targeting only the more healthier product lines which allows them to reduce the size of their stores.
Links and Locations
Sprouts Farmers Market – Proposed
875 Mantua Pike
West Deptford NJ
NOTE: Planning Board Meetings can be cancelled or rescheduled up until last minute with no public notice.
West Deptford Planning Board Hearing – Sprouts
Tuesday January 23rd at 7:00pm
West Deptford Municipal Building
400 Crown Point Road
West Deptford, New Jersey