Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Confirms Our June 25 Report it Will Open Nine New Stores in September 2010


New Store Openings

On June 25, 2010 we reported in this story - A Four Month Pause: No New Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Set to Open Until September 2010 - that Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market would open at least nine, and potentially as many as 10, new stores in September 2010. We also reported the grocer wouldn't open any new stores in either July or August, which it won't.

Below are the key paragraphs from our June 25, 2010 report:

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market currently has no plans to open any new stores in either July or August, Fresh & Easy Buzz has learned. Our source information is strong enough on this that if Fresh & Easy were to open a store, say in August, it will be because the grocer decided to do so after today.

The next batch of new Fresh & Easy stores will likely open in September 2010, according to our information. Look for as many as 9-10 new store openings in September.

Today Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market issued a press release in which it announced it will open nine new stores in September. No new Fresh & Easy stores will open this month or in August.

The dates of the nine new store openings and the store locations are:

September 8th

>Hubbard St. & Gladstone Ave. Sylmar, Southern California
>Rosemead Blvd. & Valley Blvd. Rosemead, Southern California
>Rose Ave. & Gonzales Rd. Oxnard, Southern California Coast
>Cherry Ave. & 25th St. Signal Hill, Southern California

September 15th

>Cedar Ave. & Shields Ave. Fresno, California (Central Valley)
>Herndon Ave. & Fowler Ave. Clovis, California (Central Valley)

September 22nd

>32nd St. & University Ave. San Diego, California
>River Rd. & College Blvd. Oceanside, California
>College Blvd. & Oceanside Blvd. Oceanside, California

There are currently 159 Fresh & Easy fresh food and grocery stores located in California (Southern and the Central Valley), southern Nevada and Metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona.

Ninety eight of the current 159 Fresh & Easy markets are located in Southern California and the Bakersfield and Fresno Metro regions in California's Central Valley; 34 units in Metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona; and 27 stores in southern Nevada.

After the nine new stores open in September, the total Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market store-count will be 168. Since all nine new stores are in California, it will raise the total store-count in the Golden State to 107, which will mean a significantly high percentage of Fresh & Easy sales will depend on how the stores perform in California, particularly in Southern California where the majority of the 107 units will be located.

We said in the blog that Fresh & Easy would continue to put its new store emphasis in Southern California - and it is. In fact, the grocer hasn't opened a new store in southern Nevada (Metro Las Vegas) in over a year. And its new store openings in Metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona has been nearly as sparse.

You will no doubt see numerous publications run stories today and this week about the opening of the nine new stores, based on the Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market press release the grocer issued today. But we're the only publication that actually reported it - and we did so three weeks ago.

Linkage - Related Stories:

June 25, 2010: A Four Month Pause: No New Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Set to Open Until September 2010

June 1, 2010: No New Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Likely This Month

May 1, 2010: No New Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Set to Open This Month

March 30, 2010: Tesco Set to Open 11 New Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores in April

March 29, 2010: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Set to Hit 150-Plus Store-Count Mark on April 7

March 16, 2010: A New Fresh & Easy Store Opens in Las Vegas Tomorrow on St. Patrick's Day; Will Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy's Proud Irish Eyes Be Smiling?

March 7, 2010: Three New Fresh & Easy Stores Opening This Month; First Opening March 10 in Palm Springs, California

January 27, 2010: February New Store Opening 'Big Bang' For Tesco's Fresh & Easy; Nine New Stores So Far

February 24, 2010: Fresh & Easy Store Opens its Doors in South Los Angeles

April 19, 2010: Tesco Debating Whether to Launch Fresh & Easy Into Northern California This Fiscal Year... or Wait

April 13, 2009: Despite Postponing its Northern California Launch Again Earlier This Year Tesco's Fresh & Easy Planning Third San Francisco Store; First Stockton Unit

January 14, 2010: UFCW Union Launches Informal Boycott of Fresno CA Fresh & Easy Stores Today; One Day After the Stores Open

April 20, 2010: Strong Group Revenue & Profit For Tesco... But $253 Million Loss at Fresh & Easy

June 23, 2010: Tesco Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Tim Mason Gets Big Stock Award Featuring a Singular Twist

June 4, 2010: Every Little (Bit) Helps: Tesco Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Mason Paid $6.188 Million For 2009

June 21: The Missing Link in Tesco's Purchase of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Meat Supplier '2 Sisters Food Group'

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