Sprouts opens to large crowds

Members of the Norwalk City Council and Chamber of Commerce celebrate the opening of Sprouts with a ribbon cutting. (Photo by Vincent Medina).

NORWALK - Hundreds of residents eager to be the first shoppers in the new Sprouts Farmers Market began lining up for the grand opening on Friday.

The Farmers Market opened at 7 am, but residents began lining up hours before and braved the 45-degree weather to take advantage of the store discounts during its opening weekend.

Natalie Merrick, Sprouts service manager, explained she saw people waiting in line as early as 5 am. The store opened a few minutes early to accommodate the crowd.

“Every [Sprouts] store has its own story. We sell the same product and merchandise, but each store has its team members that set it apart from other Sprouts locations,” Merrick said.

The Norwalk Sprouts offered 20% off all products to shoppers during its opening weekend.

However, customers had to text a phone number to receive the discount and were encouraged to download the Sprouts app and receive savings in the future.

Brand ambassadors and Sprouts employees assisted customers in line to ensure everyone had an opportunity to save money on their purchase.

“The first 200 people in line today also received a bag filled with goodies and we will be doing that tomorrow as well,” Merrick said.

Norwalk city council and the chamber of commerce held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the farmers market on Saturday, so as not to disturb the large crowd on opening day.

Grace Napolitano, former Norwalk mayor and U.S. congresswoman of District 31, expressed her pride in the city and its evolution over her 62-year career.

“There’s a lot more the city is going to do and I’m looking forward to it,” Napolitano said. “We welcome all the businesses in Norwalk because not only do they bring that diversity, but they also bring the healthy food we need.”

The Sprouts Farmers Market is open daily from 7 am - 10 pm at 11522 Alondra Blvd.