Saturday, January 19, 2013

Fresh & Easy - "food for thought", or not


Pacifica Tribune/ John Maybury column, "Wandering and Wondering, 1/15/13.  "Fresh and Easy goes stale."

Fresh & Easy, Pedro Point shopping Center
"According to business columnist Andrew S. Ross (San Francisco Chronicle, January 8), Walmart and Grocery Outlet are two possible contenders for the Fresh & Easy grocery stores, including the one here on Pedro Point.

With our "shop local" mantra, I have to say that our homegrown markets (Oceana, Farmer's, Sun Valley) suit me just fine, so I am not out there beating the drum for yet another corporate chain to come into Pacifica. I would much rather see a local business take over that space in Pedro Point. In my dreams, Mister Lee's Chinese Food would return! Please email me your food for thought."   Read article.

Related San Francisco article -  San Francisco Chronicle, Andrew S. Ross columnist, 1/7/13. "Drugstores' new appetite for dining."  "Fresh & Easy threw in the towel last month after its parent, British supermarket giant Tesco, which poured $1.6 billion over five years into 199 small-format stores in California, Nevada and Arizona, decided it couldn't wait any longer for the U.S. venture to turn a profit. That means Fresh & Easy's 19 stores in the Bay Area - including two opened in 2011 in San Francisco's Bayview and Richmond districts, one in the Portola that opened last year, plus a fourth planned for the Mission District this year - face a very uncertain future."

Related Pacifica article - Pacific Patch, 12/6/12.  "Fresh & Easy may close stores.".The British-based grocery chain prepares to pull the plug on its 199 U.S. supermarkets. Offers to buy the chain are already surfacing."  "Fresh & Easy stores in California and beyond will soon be sold or closed, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.  Owned by Britain's Tesco, the 199-market grocery chain never quite caught on with American consumers. Analysts said the recession was partly to blame—Fresh & Easy debuted in California, Nevada and Arizona in 2007, just as the economy was tanking. But, ultimately, shoppers didn't warm to the concept."

Posted by Kathy Meeh

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hate to see the lost jobs and tax revenue and the reduction in competition and choice in the grocery category. Another mom and pop restaurant is unlikely to replace any of those. Not a popular idea with everyone, but we're only going to get the taxes and jobs from another chain store of some type. We need a mix of business in town. Fingers crossed.