In a four -to- five minute webcast video interview this morning, Tesco PLC CEO Sir Terry Leahy discussed and defended the company's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market USA small-format, convenience-oriented basic grocery and fresh foods store venture, as part of today's reporting of its annual sales and profits.In the webcast video, A gentleman asks Tesco CEO Leahy questions about Fresh & Easy USA, which he answers.
Among the key points Sir Terry makes in the webcast video are:
>Tesco still plans to have about 200 stores open and operating by the end of the next fiscal year, including its expansion into the Northern California regions of Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area.
>Sir Terry says U.S. customers "love" the Fresh & Easy stores and the stores offerings across the board.
>CEO Leahy says Fresh & Easy has received "the best" consumer feedback of any international venture the retailer has launched to date.
>He says "sales are ahead of budget" and that "store growth is progressive, week after week. I couldn't be more pleased with the reception to Fresh & Easy," he added.
>Sir Terry says Tesco is not rethinking the Fresh & Easy business model in any way and that he "couldn't be more pleased with the offering."
>Leahy adds that Tesco is "only 167 days into it" (since the first stores opened) and that the retailer "has more to do, more to learn."
>Sir Terry says Fresh & Easy's rapid new store opening activity would begin again in July after the April, May and June three month pause or hiatus, which he states was always planned.
CEO Leahy says in the webcast video he believes there are some people in the U.S. who have a vested interest in seeing Tesco's Fresh & Easy venture fail, and that's the reason for much of the negative publicity about the venture.
Further, Leahy says "any seasoned observer knows it takes time" for a new venture to succeed.
View the four -to- five minute webcast video of Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy being interviewed by a gentleman who asks him questions here.
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