Sprouts Farmers Market 2015 Annual Report Download - page 18

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each store throughout the year, which included our Vitamin Extravaganza, Frozen Frenzy,
Gluten-Free Favorites, and Incredible Bulk Sales, in addition to our routine Double-Ad
Wednesday promotion and 72-Hour Sales.
Our Communities
We are actively involved in the communities in which we operate, and support many local non-profit
and educational institutions that share our goal of improved health, nutrition and fitness. In 2015, we
formed The Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation (referred to as our “Foundation”), a registered
501(c)(3) organization focused on fighting food insecurity, increasing health and nutrition education and
assisting those living with the daily challenges of disabilities and health concerns. Our involvement in the
communities we serve, through our Foundation or our stores, takes many forms, including:
xAlignment with Certain Causes. Sprouts has undertaken a number of innovative corporate
fundraising initiatives, including a multi-faceted program with Autism Speaks and the
Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center. From 2010 through 2014, we raised more
than $4.9 million through our donations, as well as the donations by our and business
partners. In 2015, we raised $2.5 million including donations from our business partners and
customers. Our Foundation has allowed us to expand our reach to additional causes related to
its mission, including donations to REAL School Gardens to fund the creation of a school
garden that promotes healthy food choices and nutrition education and to No Kid Hungry to
fund nutritional programs and support free/reduced school breakfast programs for low-income
students. In addition, we partnered with Vitamin Angels on two in-store fundraisers in 2015 to
help connect undernourished children with life changing and lifesaving nutrients.
xDonations. Our donation goal is to contribute to the health of families and children and to
healthy environments through in-kind support. Many donations are made at store level, in the
form of food donations or gift cards, to qualifying organizations that are aligned with our goals.
Examples include bananas or water for fundraising road races, reusable bags for health fairs
and green festivals and gift cards to be used as raffle items or to provide catering for a
fundraising event. During 2015, we donated over eight million pounds of produce and other
food to local food banks in the markets in which we operate through our Food Rescue
Program. We have also adopted the Grab & Give campaign, which encourages customers to
buy bags of groceries at a discount and then allow us to donate them to food banks in the
markets in which we operate.
xVolunteerism. Our team members are encouraged to help people and organizations in need.
We have provided major volunteer support for the Arizona Walk Now for Autism Speaks, the
Phoenix Rescue Mission, REAL School Gardens and various food banks. With an engaged
base of more than 20,000 team members, we have the ability to use our leverage to support
causes.
Store Selection and Economics
We have an extensive and selective process for new store site selection, which includes in-depth
analysis of area demographics, competition, growth potential, traffic patterns, grocery spend and other
key criteria. We have a dedicated real estate team as well as a real estate committee comprised of our
Chief Development Officer and other members of senior management, including our Chief Executive
Officer, President and Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Multiple members of our
committee will also conduct an on-site inspection prior to approving any new location.
We believe that our store model, combined with our rigorous store selection process and a growing
interest in health and wellness, contribute to our attractive new store returns on investment. Our typical
store requires an average new store cash investment of approximately $3.1 million, consisting of store
buildout (net of contributions from landlords) of approximately $2.6 million, and inventory (net of payables)