Sprouts Farmers Market (Nasdaq: SFM) is right on schedule with the opening this week of its Cedar Park store at 1530 Cypress Creek Road.
The Austin Business Journal first reported about the natural food grocers’ plans to add to its Austin network of stores in June. The Cedar Park store is set to open on Wednesday.
With the grand opening of the 27,000-square-foot store, which opens at 7 a.m., the Phoenix-based company will have five Austin-area stores. This will be its first local location built from the ground up.
Across the country, Sprouts has been growing rapidly with 182 stores in 10 states and more openings set for the remainder of 2014. Sprouts has been giving competitor and local natural grocery giant Whole Foods Market Inc. (Nasdaq: WFM) a run for its money with strong financial results, now that Sprouts has joined the cadre of publicly-owned companies.
According to ABJ's sister publication, the Phoenix Business Journal, Sprouts saw profits jump 141 percent in the second quarter from a year ago with revenues at $30.2 million, up from $12.5 million.
Meanwhile, Whole Foods posted sluggish results. Though reporting higher-than-expected earnings per share of 41 cents for the second quarter, the company adjusted guidance downward in several areas for the fourth quarter and the fiscal year. The company also saw its comparable store sales growth dragged down by underperforming older stores.
Whole Foods is substantially larger than Sprouts with 390 stores in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.
The grocery market is poised to grow more competitive in Austin with the likely addition of more Trader Joe’s, including the one under construction at the Seaholm project downtown and expected to open before the end of the yea r.
