Sunflower Seeking Arizona Sites
Serious food…Silly price. The tag line is the first indication that Sunflower Farmers Markets isn’t your garden variety food store. The second might be that it is the first grocery chain in the United States to operate its own commercial scale farm. Sunflower Farm’s first crops were planted in summer 2009, and soon after supplied produce to nearby Sunflower locations. This year, the two-acre planting area will grow to 12, in addition to a 4,000 sq. ft. greenhouse – powered by wind and solar energy – and the introduction of livestock. Sunflower hopes to also use the farm as a venue for tours and workshops on organic farming and sustainability. The brainchild of Mike Gilliand, the founder of Wild Oats, Sunflower Farmers Market is flourishing no doubt in part because it addresses several key issues on people’s minds these days: healthful food, eco-consciousness, and cost. Healthful: it offers high-quality natural and organic food (produce, meat, seafood and general grocery items) as well as natural-living items like soaps, lotions, supplements and vitamins. Eco-conscious: Is extensive selection of bulk items not only offer value but do away with the eco-impact of over-packaging – in addition to the more commonly available bulk items like granolas, nuts and candy, they offer things like popcorn kernels, bean soup mix, yeast flakes and salt – even water. And cost, its prices are comparable to those of standard supermarkets, though what it provides is perceived as innately more valuable. Sunflower is still young and relatively small – founded it 2002, it has just 27 stores so far – but it’s growing fast. Seven locations (in four states) opened in 2009; eight are slated for 2010 of which the first will open in Santa Fe, NM this week and the second in Bee Cave, TX, in February. Other 2010 openings will include stores in Longmont and Greenwood Village, CO and Albuquerque, NM.) Sunflower’s goal is to have 50 locations by the end of 2013. The concept currently has stores in six states: AZ (7), CO (9), NM (3), NV (2), TX (4), and UT (2.) They operate under the Sunflower Farmers Market banner everywhere but in Texas, where they are called Newflower. Sunflower (and Newflower) stores can range from 26,000-30,000 sq. ft., with at least 155 ft. frontage, typically in second-generation strip center space. The company looks for locations with traffic counts of 50,000 VPD and a population density of 100,000 (in a three-mile radius.)
by Lynda A. Gutierrez Printed from PlainVanillaShell.com
To Learn more, contact Matt Milinovich or Brad Balbo at 602-778-3838
