[Michael 61]

Don’t understand the nay-sayers on this post, if you have no desire to shop there then don’t - it’s as almost they want to see Sprouts fail for some unknown reason - there are many franchise restaurants that I would never patronize - but I am not hoping for their failure nor shaming those that enjoy eating there.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Michael 61

Don’t understand the nay-sayers on this post, if you have no desire to shop there then don’t - it’s as almost they want to see Sprouts fail for some unknown reason - there are many franchise restaurants that I would never patronize - but I am not hoping for their failure nor shaming those that enjoy eating there.

What I read was a pretty even balance of positive and negative comments. There weren't any unfair comments. I think most posters have provided an honest assessment of what the store offers for them. I hope it succeeds.

[flsteve]

Originally Posted by defrey12

An apple is an apple an apple. Rice is rice is rice. A egg is an egg is an egg! Calories are calories. Even YOUR ORGANIC GURUS will tell you there absolutely NO NUTRITIONAL difference in eating “organic”. The ONLY thing that keeps you out of the Dr’s office is CONSISTENT EXERCISE AND A BALANCED DIET. There are no good foods or bad foods. Only good diets and bad diets.

This is a very superficial viewpoint and I sincerely hope that it does not influence others by reading it here.

There ARE good foods and bad foods. For example, I would offer that salmon may be something that you and I could agree on is in a "good" diet (as opposed to a "bad" diet of pop tarts and donuts for dinner). Given that you would agree on the salmon, would you not also agree that farm raised salmon is not near as good as wild salmon? ...and before you answer, please consider that there is an enormous amount of money involved in revealing that farm raised salmon is subjected to antibiotics, sea lice, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

There are many, many more examples along this line of reasoning. After many years of a "devil may care" attitude towards what is in any particular food, becoming older changes that viewpoint as a person learns that this attitude eventually catches up to you and threatens your life with type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary disease, and other maladies due to those choices. Real food and diets free of taste chemicals, pesticides and preservative additives can halt and many times reverse these problems. Becoming "pill free" by your very own doctor's new evaluation after a modified food choice and diet choice is proof enough.

The point here, is that food and diet DO matter. A lot; and just about the ONLY thing that you can do to change your current health status is source organic and FDA certified beef and other similar items (organic).

To that point, SPROUTS is a God send to this area! It is not about the price. It is about the healthiness of the food item itself.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by Michael 61

Don’t understand the nay-sayers on this post, if you have no desire to shop there then don’t - it’s as almost they want to see Sprouts fail for some unknown reason - there are many franchise restaurants that I would never patronize - but I am not hoping for their failure nor shaming those that enjoy eating there.

I agree... Same with some of the restaurant threads...

They bring the self proclaimed "food snobs" out of the woodwork...

[HospitalCoder]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

I went to Sprouts today, just to browse. To me, it looks a lot like Earth Fare that went out of business. They have a lot of stuff, but I don't think it will replace Publix as my favorite grocery store. The prices seem comparable to Publix for the things that I buy. Maybe someone can point out something that would cause me to return.

I for one am thrilled with Sprouts. I’m trying to eat mostly vegetarian and plant based foods. Sprouts has an amazing selection of products to choose from, even Forks Over Knives frozen meals. This will be my regular store from now on.

As for Earth Faire, the location was horrible. Even without the road construction, I avoid that kind of congested traffic area. Sprouts is easily accessible being within The Villages. I don’t want to leave my bubble if I don’t have to.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by HospitalCoder

I for one am thrilled with Sprouts. I’m trying to eat mostly vegetarian and plant based foods. Sprouts has an amazing selection of products to choose from, even Forks Over Knives frozen meals. This will be my regular store from now on.

As for Earth Faire, the location was horrible. Even without the road construction, I avoid that kind of congested traffic area. Sprouts is easily accessible being within The Villages. I don’t want to leave my bubble if I don’t have to.

Earth Fair was only 5 minutes away from me; I live in the Spanish Springs area. For anyone living near 441, Earth Fair was closer than Sprouts is in its new location.

Earth Fair had awesome chicken salad, and delicious breads. Their produce prices were reasonable. I get most of my canned goods, milk, soda, "center of the store" stuff at Walmart.

Sprouts looks like another awesome option for anyone who wants fresh produce, and has an interest in supporting local farms. It's not exclusively local, and it's also not exclusively organic. Earth Fair had a LOT of restrictions that inhibited profit. Sprouts has fewer restrictions, which will hopefully encourage profit.

The fact that you can get to it by golf car is a huge bonus. However, it's still a half hour drive by golf car for me, and I won't be shopping there weekly.

I also plan on getting my eggs from Walmart because it's the same brand and it's less expensive, and it's only a 7-minute golf car drive from home.

[Smalley]

The bulk food section impressed me as well. There were many nut, seed, flour choices and other items like chocolate chips....several kinds.....raisins etc. This is a good way to get value for your shopping dollar.

[Peazoup]

Originally Posted by Mleeja

The wife and I drove by the store on Friday and Sunday. Both times the parking lot was full. We were wondering how long it would take before there would be a negative post here. We predicted two days. Glad you all didn’t disappoint. 😁

"The wife", how about "my wife". She's not a thing. Just had to say...

[tophcfa]

Haven’t been yet but several posts mentioned they have good fish which has me excited. Did they have any good local Florida fish such as grouper or red snapper? If so, I will be going there frequently.

[HospitalCoder]

Originally Posted by MidWestIA

Sprouts and Whole Foods were my favorite on occasion stores in north Dallas. I like getting prepared foods, unique cookies and snacks at them. I thought of Sprouts as a mini cheaper Whole Foods - they and Fresh Market would be a good combination for that hope they make it. Save me trips to Orlando just for them and Trader Joes.

Now then I like Trader Joes but walk around and don't get anything there. What do you go to Trader Joes for?

Trader Joe’s: frozen meals are unique and fabulous. Wine.

I really miss TJ’s but not enough to drive an hour or more.

[HospitalCoder]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Earth Fair was only 5 minutes away from me; I live in the Spanish Springs area. For anyone living near 441, Earth Fair was closer than Sprouts is in its new location.


The fact that you can get to it by golf car is a huge bonus. However, it's still a half hour drive by golf car for me, and I won't be shopping there weekly.

It doesn’t hurt that Sprouts is super close to me but now that I’ve seen what they carry, I would go further to shop if I had to. From what I’ve observed, it seems as though a large number of people are willing to go further than me to shop but it happens that Sprouts is in a prime central location for quite a large population.

[mikeycereal]

For fresh ground almond butter at Earth Fare and the Farmer's Market (that guy with the flavors) I was paying almost 2x as much than Fresh Market ($11 vs $6) for the same amount, and there were a few times that I drove all the way to Lady Lake and they were out. I'll check out Sprouts prices on my next Fresh Market run. It's good to have choices.

[JMintzer]

Originally Posted by Peazoup

"The wife", how about "my wife". She's not a thing. Just had to say...

No you didn't... You just "wanted" to say...

[asianthree]

Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive

We buy most of our eggs at Sam’s, but for the past couple of weeks we’ve been taking care of a farm for some friends while they spend time in another country. Cattle and chickens. We’re volunteering but can use the eggs. The chickens have a large fenced-in pasture, covered in chicken wire to keep the hawks out. They also have a coop to use at night as well as an outside covered area in case of bad weather. They get specialized chicken food but also cut greens (they love broccoli) and can forage to their hearts’ content.

I don’t know the source of Sam’s eggs but my my hunch is that it is more “factory farm” than the birds we’re caring for.

I absolutely cannot tell the difference in taste between an egg from Sam’s, and one from the farm. That’s scrambled, fried, whatever.

Depending on the breed of chicken and the feed, the yolk from farm fresh is more of an orange color, store bought can be very pale to medium yellow, but never orange. Double yolks are more common in farm fresh. My last dozen from the farm, we’re Large. But if you compare to any store bought they would be xxl. One had a triple yolk, had to set aside since using for baking doesn’t equate out to 1 egg

[Byte1]

Since it is so close to home, I'll probably check it out. I like Fresh Market and usually shop their specials such as $2.99Lb ground chuck or chicken breasts. FM also has good produce. If Sprouts is comparable, I'll probably frequent the store but I'll also have to see how busy the entrance/exit is, because it certainly looks like an accident waiting to happen being that close to the intersection/light. I really don't care about "organic" as a label on food. My family already lives way past their expiration date/sell by and that is just eating as they please. I would probably enjoy some good aged beef, if it was not so difficult to get a good deal. I doubt if the healthy eaters would care for something like that. We see a lot of diet restricted seniors here and I imagine Sprouts caters to their menu. Like I said in an earlier post, the more competition for customers, the less crowded conditions in other shopping areas. The Villages has been very, very busy this year and traffic and parking has been crazy. I've found myself shopping at Wally World a lot more than Publix since this inflation has hit my wallet hard this year. For those of us on static pensions, FM, Publix and Sprouts are sacrificed in lieu of shopping at Wally World where in a time of inflation, the dollar gets you more for your money.
I would like to hear more of those on here that have had experience at THIS Sprouts, ie. products, pricing, customer service, etc.