Sprouts Farmers Market to open 4 metro locations, hire 500

Phoenix-based Sprouts Farmers Market plans to enter metro Atlanta with four locations and hire 500 full- and part-time employees.

The stores will be in Snellville, Dunwoody, Norcross and Johns Creek.

In the battle for shoppers looking for ample organic food choices, Sprouts will compete with major retailers such as Whole Foods, The Fresh Market and, increasingly, Wal-Mart, which recently announced plans to offer a wider variety of organic foods at competitive prices.

Company spokeswoman Donna Egan said Sprouts will be entering Georgia and the Southeast for the first time.

“We began in the Southwest but have been expanding eastward,” Egan told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday. “We’ve been talking about a Southeast expansion for a while. We are looking to leverage Atlanta as a hub for the Southeast.”

Sprouts employs 15,000 workers at more than 170 stores in nine states. Georgia will become its 10th state.

Opening dates and locations for Sprouts’ metro Atlanta stores are:

  • June 18 at 1250 Scenic Highway in the Snellville area.
  • July 16 at 2480 Mount Vernon Road in Dunwoody.
  • Aug. 20 at 5130 Peachtree Parkway in Peachtree Corners
  • Sept. 17 at 3630 Peachtree Parkway in Johns Creek.

The stores, which will be open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., are about 27,500 square feet.

Sprouts said it will be hiring store managers and department managers, cashiers, clerks, administrators and others.

Prospective employees can apply now at sprouts.com/careers.