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A sprouting development

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Photo by Frank Couch.

After more than a year of waiting, Vestavia Hills residents finally got the chance to welcome Sprouts Farmers Market to the Highway 31 corridor.

The store opened ahead of schedule April 6, and as many as 150 customers woke up bright and early to be the first through the doors after the 7 a.m. ribbon-cutting. The first 200 shoppers received 20 percent off their purchase, and every 15th shopper through checkout received a coupon book. Customers were also given a free reusable shopping bag.

Alabama’s first Sprouts location opened in 2015, and Senior Communications Specialist Erin Miller said the company is happy to finally be in the area.

“Since opening in the Birmingham area, we had Vestavia Hills residents asking for a Sprouts in their neighborhood,” Miller said. “We have been eyeing the opportunity for a while and are excited to bring fresh, natural and organic foods to the area at affordable prices.

“We offer a complete healthy grocery shopping experience that’s like nothing else in the area,” Miller said.

Miller said being active in the community is an important goal for Sprouts, and that the Vestavia location will partner with the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama through the store’s Food Rescue program.

The nearly 28,000-square-foot facility is part of a greater development that City Manager Jeff Downes said has been in the works for almost three years.

“It’s always good to see a plan come to life,” Downes said. “I think it will be a great, unique shopping destination that will serve the residents of Vestavia Hills very well, but also bring people from outside Vestavia Hills to this location.

The city worked with GBT Realty Corporation to bring the development to the area. Downes said that all of the tax sources from the overall development, which includes Sprouts, Papa Murphy’s Pizza, Chipotle Mexican Grille, Supercuts and Jersey Mike’s Subs, would generate up to $600,000 a year in tax revenue.

Additionally, Downes said he thinks the development will have a “rising tides float all of the boats” effect for the area and create momentum for other businesses.

“I can tell you, from the economic development perspective, we have people coming to us every single day looking for opportunities up and down Highway 31 to build new, to build different, to build unique,” he said.

For those who live closest to the new store, Sprouts has also cleaned up the area and replaced the empty buildings and patches of weeds.

“This is a beautiful place, and I am glad to have them as a neighbor," Wayne Bagwell, who lives just a few blocks away, said. Bagwell was the new store’s first customer, spending $0.74 on a small package of seasoning.

Sprouts Farmers Market

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