Sprouts supermarket chain to expand to Alabama with store in Hoover, city official says

HOOVER, Alabama - Sprouts, an Arizona-based specialty supermarket chain with more than 160 stores in the Southwest, could soon spread its roots into Alabama with a new store in Hoover, a planning consultant for the city of Hoover said tonight.

The company, which describes its stores as "a hybrid between a natural foods store, a farmers market and a conventional supermarket," is slated to be part of a shopping center planned at the intersection of Interstate 459 and John Hawkins Parkway, Hoover planning consultant Bob House said tonight.

GBT Realty Corp. is seeking permission from the city of Hoover to add a shopping center with a new grocery store and several other retail shops near the intersection of Interstate 459 and John Hawkins Parkway. The 10-acre parcel, shown in yellow here, also would contain a free-standing emergency room planned by UAB's Medical West hospital and three outparcels along John Hawkins Parkway. (Map provided by city of Hoover)

A zoning plan recommended for approval tonight by the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission shows a 25,000-square-foot grocery store and a separate 4,800-square-foot building that House said could contain about three more retail businesses.

Also on the 10-acre parcel are the free-standing emergency room planned by UAB's Medical West hospital and three outparcels along John Hawkins Parkway that House said could contain drive-through type restaurants. The development would be directly across the parkway from The Grove shopping center.

Hoover Executive Director Allen Pate said the Sprouts grocery chain is sort of a cross between an Earth Fare and a Whole Foods.

Sprouts' website indicates the company's stores offer fresh fruits and vegetables, barrels of wholesome grains, nuts and sweets, a full-service deli, meat and seafood counters (complete with homemade burgers and sausages), fresh baked goods, eclectic beer and wine, gourmet cheese, vitamins and supplements, and thousands of natural, organic and gluten-free groceries.

The supermarket chain was founded in Phoenix in 2002 by the Boney grocery family, which traces its roots back to a fruit stand that started in San Diego in the 1940s, according to the company's website. Sprouts spread to Texas in 2004, California in 2005 and Colorado in 2008. By 2010, the company had 50 stores, the website says.

After some mergers, including one with a chain previously owned by the Boney family, Sprouts now has more than 160 stores spread throughout Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah, according to its website. The company is in a growth mode, celebrating 20 grand openings in 2013, the website says.

The company's website shows a store coming soon in Overland Park, Kansas. It also lists Georgia under its list of states but does not indicate any store locations there yet. The Hoover store would appear to be the first in Alabama. Efforts to contact Sprouts officials for comment this evening were unsuccessful.

GBT Realty Corp. is seeking approval to build a new shopping center and Medical West free-standing emergency room at the intersection of Interstate 459 and John Hawkins Parkway in Hoover, Ala. (Map provided by city of Hoover)

The Sprouts store is planned to be part of a GBT Realty Corp. development now being referred to as The Crossings of Hoover/Shoppes of Hoover.

The grocery store and other retail shops will indirectly face John Hawkins Parkway and back up to I-459, House said. The slope between the shopping center and I-459 will be reforested to protect the view from the interstate, House said.

"We've taken great lengths to make sure this thing looks good from the back," House said. "More folks will see the back of it than the front of it on a daily basis."

The new development is expected to bring in $550,000 a year in sales taxes to the city, Pate said.

The free-standing ER planned by UAB's Medical West hospital and the three outparcels on the 10-acre site already are allowed by the site's "community business district" zoning, House said. The shopping center portion of the property is what needs approval from the city as a "conditional use," he said.

The matter now will go to the Hoover City Council for final consideration.

In other business tonight, the Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission approved:

  • Preliminary plans for phases seven and eight of The Preserve subdivision, containing a combined 38 residential lots, most of them estate lots. The lots are part of the master plan previously approved for The Preserve.
  • The dedication of right of way for the third sector of Ross Bridge Parkway.
  • The subdivision of property at 2147 Riverchase Office Road to allow for co-location of a cell tower. The property is owned by Dr. Bruce Irwin and is zoned "planned light industrial."
  • A resurvey of two lots on Chace Circle in the Chace Lake commercial development to create 56 more parking spaces behind The Egg & I restaurant for employees of businesses in that shopping center. The property is owned by The Bodnar Group and is zoned "planned commercial."
  • Allowing Michael Ellis of Ellis Enterprise to sell beer and table wine at the new Greystone Shell at 5408 U.S. 280, for consumption off the premises.

Here are maps showing the location of phases 7 and 8 for The Preserve subdivision:

The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday, Oct. 14, 2014 approved preliminary plans for USS Real Estate to build 11 residential lots in phase 7 of The Preserve subdivision in Hoover, Ala. (Map provided by city of Hoover)

The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission on Monday, Oct. 14, 2014 approved preliminary plans for USS Real Estate to build 27 residential lots in Phase 8 of The Preserve subdivision in Hoover, Ala. (Map provided by city of Hoover)

This article was updated at 10:46 p.m. to indicate Sprouts stores coming soon in Kansas and possibly Georgia.

To see more news from Hoover go to www.al.com/hoover

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