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.
Henry's has been bought and sold repeatedly in the last dozen years. It started out as a family owned farmer's type market in the San Diego area. It has changed ownership at least 3 times that I know of in those 12 years. Vicki, it was actually owned by Whole Foods at one point so Whole Foods did come to town. Apparently a lot of people missed it. It was recently owned by Smart and Final. Who knows how long it will be before Sprout's Farmers Market will decide to sell it yet again to another chain.
I'm not sure what Vicki and BK are talking about by calling it Sprouts at the mall rather than the old Henrys. Huh? Sprouts Natural has nothing to do with the Sprouts that just bought out Henrys, so why should they have to call themselves any thing other than what their name has been since 2001? And because I shop in Sprouts Natural weekly, I see the confusion people are already having with Sprouts Farmers Market. People are in there trying to use their Sprouts Farmers gift cards and then become enraged when Sprouts Natural won't take them. I see them in there with the Sprouts Farmers store ad and then getting annoyed that Sprouts Natural won't honor the prices. I can't tell you how many times I have heard the employees at Sprouts Naturals have to explain to people that they have nothing to do with Sprouts Farmers. It must be terribly annoying day in and day out. And BK, all stores pass of their expenses to consumers, so declaring you won't shop there is useless. What are you going to do? Not shop anywhere? Sprouts Natural is a great place to shop for organic, real food with help from people who know nutrition.
On the other hand Linda Watson and Paul Cook are members of our community. They live here, raise their families here. They support our community and when they do well and make a profit it stays in our community. Henry's is now owned by Sprouts Farmers Market. Where are they headquartered? Do they live in our community? Where will there profits be spent? Do they support our community? In the current economy it makes sense to shop local, support our local people and keep money in our community. Sprout's Natural Market was here first, they have built a name for themselves in the community. I remember when I first came to the area, Health Zone was the only place to get natural and organic. When I go into Sprouts today, I see the same friendly faces I saw 12 years ago over on Ynez. That is community. Our lives have become so far removed from our food and where it comes. Go into Sprouts, talk to Linda, she always has a smile on her face and is glad to see you. They support our local farmers and small business owners. They sell local food, eggs laid near by, veggies grown on local farms, bread baked in local ovens. When you support Sprouts Natural Market you also support local agriculture and small businesses. Sprouts, Thank you for being part of our community. Thanks for supporting local 4H projects.
Glad to hear that Henry's is back in the family, hope it stays there but Sprouts was here first, why can't you stay with Henry's? it is a family name.
Thanks for the clarity. If it is as you state it to be, I stand corrected. It apparently wasn't spelled out to clearly or I just didn't get it. Again, I stand corrected. Thanks for the education. BK