Sprouts Farmers Market is planning to open its first Bergen County store at 3 Main St. in Edgewater, moving into a space formerly occupied by HomeGoods. The natural and organic grocery chain has not announced an official opening date, but property signage at the site already points to the store's arrival.
The Edgewater location would mark a significant milestone for the Phoenix-based grocer, which currently has no stores anywhere in Bergen County, according to WDHA FM. Sprouts sells fresh fruits, vegetables, natural items, and organic products, along with plant-based and gluten-free offerings, and currently operates in Aberdeen, East Windsor, Haddon Township, Marlton, Sewell, West Deptford, and Woodbridge, with Sewell and Woodbridge among its most recent New Jersey openings.
Signage at the property indicates the store is coming, per Boozy Burbs, even though Sprouts has not yet listed the Edgewater site on its own website. The move would fit a pattern the company has followed elsewhere in the state: expanding into existing retail boxes rather than building from the ground up.
A Smaller Footprint Built for Dense Markets
Sprouts shifted exclusively toward a compact store prototype for new developments starting in 2023, averaging 23,000 to 25,000 square feet — roughly 23% smaller than its traditional 30,000-plus-square-foot stores, according to Grocery Dive. That downsized format lowers construction costs and lets the chain slot into denser retail corridors, which helps explain why a former HomeGoods box in Edgewater could work for the company without major new construction.
By comparison, Sprouts' original New Jersey store in Marlton, which opened in June 2019 as the chain's entry point into the state, spanned 33,000 square feet before the company transitioned to its smaller prototype. Sprouts now operates seven locations across New Jersey and has additional openings planned for Hamilton Township in November and for Bridgewater.
Why Edgewater, Why Now
Edgewater packs 15,198 people per square mile into less than one square mile of land, according to Census Reporter data, with the borough sitting directly across the Hudson River from Upper Manhattan. The borough's population jumped 24.5% between 2010 and 2020, climbing from 11,513 to 14,336 residents, and reached an estimated 15,499 residents by 2025 as new apartment construction continued along the waterfront, per the same data cited in a report from WDHA FM.
Edgewater is adding more apartments even now, feeding a consumer base with significant spending power. The borough's median household income sits at $151,747, well above state and national medians, according to Livability — the kind of household income base that specialty grocers chasing premium natural and organic sales tend to target.
Crowded Shelves Along River Road
Sprouts would be entering a supermarket landscape that has already shifted this year. A new ShopRite recently opened at 481 River Road inside the Edgewater Commons retail hub, replacing a longtime ACME supermarket at the same address. Whole Foods and Trader Joe's also operate along the River Road corridor, meaning Sprouts would be the newest entrant into an increasingly competitive stretch of grocery retail.
The push into Edgewater lines up with Sprouts' broader national strategy. The company is targeting 10% annual store growth as part of an aggressive Northeast expansion, aiming to surpass 500 total stores nationwide by late this year, according to Forbes. Sprouts built its strongest footprint across Sunbelt states before pushing up the I-95 corridor into new territory.
That expansion has translated into local jobs elsewhere in New Jersey. When Sprouts opened its Woodbridge store, the company announced 107 team member positions spanning full-time and part-time roles across specialty and fresh departments, according to a press release from Sprouts Corporate. The company's financial footing has supported that growth — Sprouts posted $6.8 billion in total net sales for fiscal year 2023, a 7% year-over-year increase driven by 3.4% growth in same-store sales, per Retail Touchpoints.
Waterfront Already Drawing Big Money
The Edgewater waterfront has attracted major investment beyond grocery retail. In August, a joint venture acquired a $450 million tri-state commercial property portfolio that included Edgewater Harbor, a 26-acre waterfront development with 60,000 square feet of retail space, as Hoodline reported in its coverage of the sale. That deal closed following the 2024 passing of developer Joe Cotter.
Whether Sprouts' Edgewater store opens this year or next remains unclear, as does how the Borough of Edgewater's permitting process is proceeding. For now, the signage at 3 Main St. offers the clearest public signal that Bergen County's first Sprouts Farmers Market is on its way.
