It’s official now: Sunflower Farmers Market will be merging with Sprouts and will be transitioning to the Sprouts name starting in July. This from their official site:
Although the rebranding of the Sunflower stores to Sprouts will begin in mid-July, the companies will still have different products, different policies, different ads, and most importantly different cultures.
I find it interesting that they say they’ll have different ads – seems like in the places where they already have Sprouts and Sunflower in the same market (such as Colorado, where there are 21 Sprouts stores and 12 Sunflower Market stores), it would make sense to make them all have the same ad, but I guess we’ll just have to see what they do! (I guess maybe I’m just thinking wishfully – as a blogger, it would be easier to cover one store, better; and as a shopper, it’s nice to not have to go to as many stores.)
For those of you who have shopped at both Sunflower and Sprouts (no Colorado Springs locations yet; the closest one is in Castle Rock and we do cover their deals on Denver Bargains!), which one is your favorite? Is there anything in particular you hope they keep from one chain as they merge?
$1.99 for Pantry Essentials (gallon) at Safeway
I have been shopping at Sprouts for years.
It is laid out far more logically and systematically. Their meat is also more consistently priced and usually a little cheaper. Their produce is also more consistent. The aisles are wider and the lights are brighter. They have a greater variety of ready-to-grab already sliced deli meats and cheeses. The bakery department is larger. The vitamin/beauty department at Sprouts is definitely NOT as good as at Sunflower. Sprouts does NOT smell like soup the way that Sunflower does because it doesn’t have as much prepared foods in the deli section. If I end up spending less at Sunflower, it is only because I find less that I want to buy. Sunflower may beat Sprouts on prices on individual items by a few pennies, but then if I buy other items there at the same time, Sprouts wins because the other items are so much more reasonable on a regular basis.
We love Sprouts. We think that it is so much better than Sunflower. I have had so many bad issues with Sunflower. I’ve purchased rancid meat and old produce at Sunflower. I’ll actually drive to Castle Rock to shop at Sprouts. I hope that Sprouts can take over and make our Sunflower a better market.