Sprouts, Hobby Lobby and PetSmart all plan to open soon in Middletown

Middletown will get a new supermarket this year – months ahead of schedule.

When the store was first announced last year at Middletown's newly constructed Northside Shopping Center at 465 Middletown Warwick Road, natural food store Sprouts Farmers Market projected an opening date in the first half of 2025.

But in a story rarely told in the years since the pandemic, construction apparently proceeded ahead of schedule. The Middletown Sprouts plans to open on Dec. 6, smack in the middle of the busy holiday season.

The Middletown location will be the second Delaware location for Sprouts, which opened its first Delaware location on Concord Pike in 2020 . The Middletown market will join a Target store next door, which scheduled its grand opening for October 13 . The center is already home to a Popeye's, Burger King, a Dash-In gas station and a small retail strip.

Weis Markets, PetSmart and Hobby Lobby are planned for next year

Multiple other stores are planned for Northside Shopping Center as it takes shape, including a PetSmart and Hobby Lobby long promised in Middletown council meetings and on real estate company Metro Commercial's advertising materials .

Pet superstore PetSmart is due to open in February or March 2025 in an 18,000-foot space next to the Sprouts market, PetSmart representatives confirmed.

The Hobby Lobby is likewise projected for early 2025, according to spokespeople. The store will open in a more than 50,000 square-foot standalone building just north of the soon-to-open Target store. The location will become Delaware's third or fourth Hobby Lobby, depending on the timing of a planned Hobby Lobby at Prices Corner Shopping Center that company officials say is now also slated for early 2025.

In the fast-growing communities north of Middletown, a Weis Markets supermarket is also underway at the long-delayed Bayberry Town Center, between Boyds Corner and Jamison Corner roads. The shopping center began site work this spring; Weis Markets is projected to open in 2025.

More: Bayberry may finally get a supermarket, 145 new homes and maybe a fitness center

What should shoppers expect at the new Middletown Sprouts Farmers Market?

Arizona-based Sprouts is a publicly traded natural foods grocer that shies from selling nationally known food and drink brands and is instead focused on organic options and products from its own label. A Sprouts spokesperson previously described the store as a "starter" for those looking to adopt healthy eating habits.

Sprouts opened its first Delaware store in March 2020 next to the Concord Mall on Concord Pike. There are more than 400 Sprouts locations nationwide, including a half-dozen in the Philadelphia area.

The company announced last year it would approximately double its footprint in greater Philadelphia by opening six new stores. The chain began this expansion with two Philadelphia stores this summer.

When it opens in December, the Middletown Sprouts store will be a light and tight 23,000 square feet, part of the chain's new strategy of opening smaller-footprint stores designed to be more environmentally friendly. The small-format stores have roughly the same product mix, but with a tighter focus on produce.

Sprouts stock has nearly tripled since the beginning of 2024, as the company has rolled out dozens of new locations since last year. This year, Sprouts also launched a store line of all-natural personal care products that include vegan, color-safe shampoos and shea-butter body soaps. The company will hold hiring fairs on Oct. 22 and 23 for a number of positions at the Middletown Sprouts location.

Matthew Korfhage is business and development reporter in the Delaware region covering all things related to land and money: openings and closings, construction, and the many corporations that call the First State home. Send tips and insults to mkorfhage@gannett.com .

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Sprouts, Hobby Lobby and PetSmart all plan to open soon in Middletown