Shoppers line up before dawn for Sprouts opening in Clarksville | PHOTOS

CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Despite morning temperatures hovering around 40 degrees, shoppers lined up hours before sunrise Friday for the grand opening of Sprouts Farmers Market. The line stretched along the storefront to the end of the building as people waited to get their first look inside the new grocery store.

As part of the grand opening celebration, the first 400 shoppers received a free long-stem rose from Falcon Farms Floral, and the first 200 received a free reusable tote bag. The store is at 1002 Winn Way, just off Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway and Fire Station Road, and has a variety of fresh produce, natural and organic groceries, and specialty food products.

The first shopper in line was Luella Crews, who arrived at 3:38 a.m. despite having never visited a Sprouts location before. Crews said she wanted to see “what it’s all about” and see what different options they have. Roxanne Hicks arrived around 4:20 a.m. and said attending grand openings has become something of a tradition for her family. “We go to all the grand openings. … We always try to be first in line,” Hicks said.

Hicks said she was particularly interested in exploring the store’s selection. “We need a new store like this, something totally different,” Hicks said.

Store manager Dennis Williams thanked the residents and employees. “I definitely want to thank Clarksville and the community and everybody who’s brought this together, supported us, and made this happen,” Williams said. “We deliver on freshness daily. We deliver it with a smile, and we top it off with great customer service,” he said.

Sprouts broke ground on the property about eight months ago in February. During the groundbreaking, Sprouts District Director Patrick Trueheart said the location was expected to create more than 80 local jobs.

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