Sprouts Opens But Pinellas Lucky's, Earth Fare Remain Shuttered

SEMINOLE, FL — Seminole residents have a new place to shop for fresh, organic products.

Sprouts Farmers Market opened Wednesday at 7263 Seminole Blvd., the nationwide chain's eighth Tampa Bay location.

Sprouts is gaining momentum in Florida following the sudden closure of Lucky's Farmers Market and Earth Fare grocery stores, both of which has announced ambitious plans to open Florida stores last year but were derailed by the coronavirus.

One of the closed Earth Fare store was in Seminole.

Earth Fare, which specializes in organic and natural foods, operated two full-service supermarkets in Pinellas County. The store at Seminole City Center opened in September 2016, while the Oldsmar location at the Woodlands Square Plaza opened in October 2017.

North American Development Group purchased the former home of the Seminole Mall at 113th Street and Park Boulevard, a once-flourishing shopping center that began struggling in 2012.

In 2014, NADG and its partner on the project, Primerica Group One, presented plans to revitalize the shopping center to the Seminole City Council. However, those plan fell apart with the loss of Earth Fare.

Likewise, in January, Colorado-based Lucky’s Farmers Market announced it was closing its only Tampa Bay store at Tyrone Square Mall in St. Petersburg and was shelving plans to open stores in Brandon and Clearwater where construction was already underway.

The Clearwater Lucky’s Market was supposed to take over an Albertson’s store on Gulf to Bay Boulevard, which closed in 2015. Tampa’s Greenleaf Capital was in the midst of building the Clearwater plaza with Lucky’s as its anchor and a few other smaller storefronts when the grocery chain announced its plan to pull out of Florida.

Sprouts Market, however, said it plans to continue expanding into Florida.

In addition to the newly opened Seminole store, Sprouts plans to open a store in New Tampa, 8620 Hunters Village Road, on Aug. 12, and a store at 10619 Sheldon Road in Westchase.

The new Sprouts Farmers Markets will join existing stores at 1523 S. Dale Mabry Highway in south Tampa, 33650 U.S. 19 in Palm Harbor; 15110 N. Dale Mabry Highway in Carrollwood Commons; 3315 Lithia-Pinecrest Road in Valrico, 23656 U.S. 19 in Clearwater; 12960 S. U.S. 301 in Riverview; and 8840 Strength Ave. in The Village at Mitchell Ranch in Trinity.

In its press release, Sprouts said it is following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines as well as county orders regarding the coronavirus. All employees are required to wear masks. In addition to regular food safety and cleaning procedures, Sprouts has invested additional labor hours in stores to allow for more frequent cleaning, paying close attention to high-touch areas such as service counters, restrooms, carts and checkout lanes. Stores are also implementing steps to promote social distancing and have installed plexiglass barriers at registers to add protection for team members and customers.

As part of Sprouts’ commitment to “zero waste,” the Seminole store will donate unsold, edible groceries to Feeding Tampa Bay through the grocer’s Food Rescue program. In 2019, Sprouts stores and distribution centers donated 27 million pounds of product, equivalent to 23 million meals. Food that is not fit for donation is provided to local cattle farms and composting facilities.

Sprouts is known for its fresh produce at the center of the store, an expansive bulk foods section, and a vitamin department focused on overall wellness. Sprouts also offers an assortment of healthier products such as plant-based, gluten-free, keto-friendly and grass-fed.

The new Seminole store is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.

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• Tampa Bay Just Ran Out Of Lucky's; Stores To Close
• Brandon Gets Lucky; Lures New Stores To Old Kmart Plaza