A local, family-owned grocery store sued a corporate chain that recently changed its name to something almost identical to their own.
is suing a company that is changing the name of several local stores from to Sprouts Farmers Market.
The locally owned company requested an injunction barring the corporation from using the name in the Temecula area, and a hearing is set for Dec. 29, according to court records.
Henry's and Sprouts Farmers Market recently merged, and the company is changing the names of the Henry's stores to Sprouts.
The name is too similar, and this will hurt the local business, the plaintiffs wrote in a court document.
"With nearly identical names, an identical industry and identical target customers, (Sprouts) Farmers' expansion to the region has caused significant confusion and significantly injured the quality of Sprouts' (Natural Market) name," the document states.
"Further expansion will result in increased confusion and injury that cannot be remedied at law. As a family-owned operation with modest means, Sprouts (Natural Market) has no choice but to aggressively protect the name it has built over the past 20 years doing business in the region," it states.
To read the court record, click on the PDF file above.
The local store was founded in 1989 by Temecula residents Linda Watson and her son, Paul Cook, under the name Health Zone Natural Foods. The company changed its name to Sprouts Natural Market and filed a fictitious business name statement in 2001, according to court records.
