This location (28th St & Indian School) is somewhat worse than other Sprouts locations in the Valley. Especially the produce. Today, as I have found many times before, the leafy greens were in terrible shape - torn, withered, yellowed. The celery was in peculiar shape - it looked undersized, and had lots of brown spots. The mushrooms were bruised and appeared to be on the verge of becoming slimy.
Winter greens are in high season right now, being harvested in Yuma/Imperial Valley and the surrounding area as I type this. There is no reason for poor quality produce, especially right now. It's as if this location were the Vegetable Rescue Society of last resort. Maybe it's because they charge $1.99 for about 8 stems of lacinato kale. Maybe people would buy more produce if you charged less for it, and then you could make more profit through volume - just a thought.
Central Phoenix abounds in mediocre to poor grocery stores, and this is another one of them. It bothers me that if I drive 10 miles in any direction, I will find better selection, quality, and frequently prices, than I can get in my own backyard. Last week I was at a Sprouts in north Phoenix, and the quality of the produce was stellar - I just didn't need any at the time.
The Indian School store has begun quietly discontinuing various supplements and grocery products. If you have room on the shelves, I say try to maintain variety. Quit playing the game where you try to maximize profits out of a minimum of SKUs (this is a common game in retailing these days - thanks, Walmart and Costco). If you don't carry enough of the things I want, I will go elsewhere for everything.
With Trader Joe's just a mile away and rumors of a Whole Foods coming to the area, I don't know how this place is gonna make it in the long term.