Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to Open 5800 Third Street 'Flagship' Store in San Francisco Later in 2011 Than Originally Announced


Northern California Market Region Special Report

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market now plans to open what we've termed its Northern California "flagship" market, the store at 5800 Third Street in San Francisco's Bayview District pictured above, later in 2011 than it had originally publicly announced this summer. [See - Tesco Will Open its First Eight Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores in Northern California in 'Early 2011.' for the August 19, 2010 announcement].

Instead of opening the store in "early 2011" (February or March based on our reporting), as it announced in would be doing in the August 19, 2010 press release (see above), El Segundo, (Southern) California-based Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is now planning to open the market in the new 5800 Third Street residential condominium project at Third Street & Carroll Avenue in San Francisco in the early summer of 2011, according to our sources, which include a person in a position to know about such plans at the grocery chain.

Additionally, John Gavin, an account manager at the San Francisco-based public relations firm HMS Associates, which Tesco's Fresh & Easy has hired to do public and community relations ahead of its Northern California launch next year, told San Francisco's Southeast Sector Food Access working group (SEFA) at a recent meeting that the opening of the future Fresh & Easy store at 5800 Third Street is now planned for the "early summer of 2011," rather than in "early 2011," according to members in attendance who talked to Fresh & Easy Buzz. The neighborhood association promotes increased access to healthy foods for residents in San Francisco's Bayview neighborhood, along with advocating for other food and nutrition objectives.

In early November of this year, Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market sent out a second press release about its planned "early 2011" Northern California launch. In the release Fresh & Easy listed 12 stores it said it's currently hiring for and that will be the first batch of markets to be opened in "early 2011." The 5800 Third Street unit wasn't one of the 12 Fresh & Easy units listed in the release, even though it was one of the first eight Fresh & Easy stores the grocer said it would be opening in Northern California in "early 2011," in that original August 19, 2010 announcement. [See - November 12, 2010: Postponed But Not Abandoned: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Gearing Up For Northern California Launch for details about the early November announcement.]

Regular readers of Fresh & Easy Buzz are well aware of a caveat we often mention when it comes to the dates of new store openings at Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market. The caveat: Planned new store opening dates at Fresh & Easy are fluid and dynamic. In other words, they're always subject to change.

Below are the locations of the 12 stores Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market at present plans to open in "early 2011." According to our current information, the first stores out of the 12 are set to start opening in March of next year. However, depending on a couple of variables, some of those first 12 stores could be opened starting in February 2011.

• Concord - Clayton Rd. & Ygnacio Valley Rd.
• Danville - Diablo Blvd. & Hwy. 680
• Hayward - Mission Blvd. & Rousseau St.
• Modesto - Oakdale Rd. & Lancey Dr.
• Napa - Imola Ave. & Jefferson St.
• Pacifica - Cabrillo Hwy. & Linda Mar Blvd.
• Pleasanton - Rosewood Dr. & Santa Rita Rd.
• San Francisco - 32nd Ave. & Clement St.
• San Jose - Bird Ave. & Minnesota Ave.
• San Jose - Saratoga Ave. & Payne Ave.
• Vacaville - Elmira Rd. & Nut Tree - Vacaville Rd.
• Walnut Creek - Ygnacio Valley Rd. & San Carlos Rd.

Ten of the 12 stores are in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Vacaville is about halfway between the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area and the Sacramento region, where Fresh & Easy has numerous sites it plans to start opening at a later time.

Modesto is located in the Northern Central Valley. Modesto, and the store at Oakdale & Lancy, is a little over an hour's drive from the Pleasanton unit at Rosewood & Santa Rita, which is the closest Bay Area Fresh & Easy store to Modesto in terms of proximity.

In addition to the 5800 Third Street store in San Francisco's Bayview District, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market also previously planned to open a market, which it's had since late 2007-early 2008, at Tasman Drive & Fair Oaks Avenue in Sunnyvale, California near San Jose in the first quarter of 2011. We reported on that development in a September 22, 2010 story - Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Plans to Open Two Additional Stores in Northern California in Early 2011.

However, according to our sources, Fresh & Easy has decided to postpone the opening of that store for later next year as well. Instead, the grocer has replaced it for an "early 2011" opening with a second San Jose unit, at Saratoga Avenue & Payne Avenue, which is one of the 12 stores in the list at top.

We broke the news of the existence of the Saratoga Avenue and Payne Avenue future Fresh & Easy store location in a November 5, 2010 story - Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Queuing Up Three Additional Stores in Northern California For Early-to-Mid 2011 Openings - a week before Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market announced the location and included it as one of the 12 stores set for "early 2011" openings.

Prior to our November 5, 2010 story Fresh & Easy had not yet even announced it planned a store at the Saratoga & Payne location in San Jose.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market currently plans to open 22 new stores in the first quarter of 2011, all in California - the 12 units in Northern California, along with 10 new stores in Southern California.

The 10 new Southern California Fresh & Easy markets are set to open between January-March 2011, as we've previously reported. [See - November 4, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Confirms Our October Reports On 10 New Stores Opening in Early 2011; October 25, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to Open 10 New Stores in 10 Southern California Cities in January-February 2011; and October 17, 2010: No Additional New Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Set to Open This Year; Ten New Units Planned For January 2011.

Tesco will end 2010 with 155 of its small-format Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market fresh food and grocery stores in California, southern Nevada and metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, down from 168 units. The grocer closed 13 under-performing stores in November. [See - 13 Closing Fresh & Easy Stores List.]

There are 106 Fresh & Easy stores in California - 92 units in Southern California; seven stores in the Bakerfiedl metro region; and seven Fresh & Easy markets in the Fresno area. There are 28 Fresh & Easy stores in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona and 21 units in metro Las Vegas, Nevada.

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From the Editor's Desk - Fresh & Easy Northern California: A Reporting Chronology

Fresh & Easy Buzz has been ahead of the curve all year on Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's planned Northern California launch.

For example, in this story on April 19, 2010 - April 19, 2010 - Tesco Debating Whether to Launch Fresh & Easy Into Northern California This Fiscal Year... or Wait - we reported and detailed a debate within Tesco's Fresh & Easy about launching into Northern California.

Tesco originally planned to launch into the region in early 2009 but postponed it. The grocer also internally postponed a 2010 launch.

On June 26, we followed that report up with a story in which we reported the grocer's plans to announce when it would launch into Northern California and open its first stores in the region. See - June 26, 2010: Tesco Planning to Announce in July When First Northern California Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores to Open.

We also offered additional evidence of our June 26, 2010 report in this piece, which we published on July 29, 2010: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Putting Together List of Managers Interested in Transferring to Northern California

Tesco's Fresh & Easy announced its plans to launch into Northern California 19 days after we reported it would in our June 26 story, doing so on August 19, 2010. See - August 21, 2010: April 2010 Prediction Correct: February 2011 Target to Open First Eight Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores in Northern California; and August 19, 2010: Tesco Will Open its First Eight Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores in Northern California in 'Early 2011.' August 19 was when Fresh & Easy offered the list of the original eight stores it planned to open in "early 2011."

We also reported on the additional stores, comprising the 12, that Fresh & Easy plans to open in "early 2011" before the grocer announced the revised list on November 12 of this year. See - November 12, 2010: Postponed But Not Abandoned: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Gearing Up For Northern California Launch.

Below are those reports:

>September 14, 2010: Eight Plus One: Napa Unit Added to Eight Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Opening in Northern CA in Early 2011

>September 22, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Plans to Open Two Additional Stores in Northern California in Early 2011

>September 22, 2010: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Planning A New, Third Store in San Jose, California

>November 5, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Queuing Up Three Additional Stores in Northern California For Early-to-Mid 2011 Openings

Additionally, in July our 'The Insider' columnist wrote this column - July 18, 2010: 'The Insider' - When it Comes to Northern California - its Competitors are Rome Burning and Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is Nero Playing the Fiddle - which received thousands of hits, according to our blog and twitter analytics, about the competitive danger Tesco faced if it continued to postpone its Northern California launch.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy announced its plans to enter the Northern California market region on August 19, a month and a day after we published 'The Insider's' July 18 column. See - August 19, 2010: Tesco Will Open its First Eight Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores in Northern California in 'Early 2011.' Plus - August 21, 2010: April 2010 Prediction Correct: February 2011 Target to Open First Eight Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores in Northern California.

Below are some additional stories in our coverage so far this year on Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market and its planned "early 2011" launch:

>May 28, 2010: First Phase of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market-Anchored Condo Development in San Francisco's Bayview Set For Completion in June

>July 21, 2010: Vacant Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store in Pacifica, California Has the City's Mayor in a Pickle

>August 22, 2010: The Insider: Challenges & Opportunities: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Will Supply its Northern CA Stores From its Riverside County DC in Southern CA

[Editor's Note: We began our 'Northern California Market Region Special Report' series in April of this year. It's one in a number of special report series' we've done in Fresh & Easy Buzz over the last three years. Taken as a whole, we beleive the nine months' of stories offers one of the best up-to-date snap shots of the Northern California market region, which Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market plans to enter in early 2011, that's currently available. Below are the stories in the series thus far. Click on the title to read the story.]

December 7, 2010: Sunflower Farmers Market Confirms Our Report It's Headed to Northern California; Roseville Store to Open April 2011

December 9, 2010: Launching Sunflower Farmers Market Into Northern California is a 'Second Act' of Sorts For Founder-CEO Mike Gilliland

November 30, 2010: DeLano's IGA Markets Closing Five Stores in San Francisco & Marin County; Fairfax, Davis Units to Remain Open (For Now)

November 29, 2010: Veteran Grocer Harley DeLano's 'DeLano IGA Markets' Chain On the Verge of Closure in San Francisco Bay Area

November 22, 2010: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Plans Five New Stores in Northern California's Sacramento Region

November 12, 2010: Postponed But Not Abandoned: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Gearing Up For Northern California Launch

November 8, 2010 - Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's '5800 Third Street' Northern California 'Flagship' Store in San Francisco is Taking Shape

November 5, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Queuing Up Three Additional Stores in Northern California For Early-to-Mid 2011 Openings

November 3, 2010: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Plans New Store in Northern Central Valley, California City of Ceres

November 1, 2010: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Planning to Build its First Store in Northern California City of Brentwood

October 30, 2010: Raley's Launches New 'Raley's TO GO' Pre-Packaged, Refrigerated Fresh-Prepared Foods Line

October 27, 2010: Save Mart CEO Bob Piccinini Poised to Make it to the 'Bigs' as Member of Golden State Warriors' Ownership Group

September 26, 2010: While Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Postponed, Target Opened 42 'P-Fresh' Fresh Food and Grocery Markets in Northern California

September 22, 2010: Sunflower Makes Three: Sunflower Farmers Market's First Northern California Store Will Be in Roseville

September 22, 2010: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Planning A New, Third Store in San Jose, California

September 22, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Plans to Open Two Additional Stores in Northern California in Early 2011

September 21, 2010: A Look Inside Whole Foods Market's Newest Store, A Mall Location in Santa Rosa, California

September 20, 2010: About Today's Walmart Stores, Inc. Smaller Stores Media Frenzy: We Scooped it On July 6, 2010

September 19, 2010: Whole Foods Market Gives Itself A 30th Birthday Present: 299th Store Opens This Week in Santa Rosa, California

September 18, 2010: Keep On Truckin' - Whole Foods Market Celebrates 30 Years This Weekend

September 14, 2010: Eight Plus One: Napa Unit Added to Eight Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Opening in Northern CA in Early 2011

September 5, 2010: BevMo Chain Ends Full Time Employment For Store Workers; They Say No Way and Join With UFCW Union to Demand 'A Better BevMo'

September 3, 2010: How the California Grocers Association and its Members Can Snatch Victory From the Jaws of the Defeat of California's Plastic Bag Ban

August 25, 2010: Going Rural: New Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store Planned for Sutter Creek in Northern California

August 23, 2010: Hybrid 'Good Eats' Market-Cafe From Raley's CEO Michael Teel & Company Opens Today in Sacramento CA

August 22, 2010: The Insider: Challenges & Opportunities: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Will Supply its Northern CA Stores From its Riverside County DC in Southern CA

August 21, 2010: April 2010 Prediction Correct: February 2011 Target to Open First Eight Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores in Northern California

August 19, 2010: Tesco Will Open its First Eight Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores in Northern California in 'Early 2011.'

August 17, 2010: Henry's Farmers Market 'Beats' Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to Northern California Despite Multi-Year Head Start; Elk Grove Store Opens Tomorrow

July 29, 2010: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Putting Together List of Managers Interested in Transferring to Northern California

July 25, 2010: Safeway to Start Construction on New Pleasanton, California Flagship Store Soon; Thanksgiving 2011 Target Opening

July 22, 2010: 'The Insider' - After Four Years in the High Weeds in Northern & Central California, Kroger Co. is Emerging to Grow its Foods Co Chain

July 21, 2010: Vacant Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store in Pacifica, California Has the City's Mayor in a Pickle

July 18, 2010: 'The Insider' - When it Comes to Northern California - its Competitors are Rome Burning and Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is Nero Playing the Fiddle

July 14, 2010: Tony Bennett Has Nothing on Whole Foods Market When it Comes to Loving San Francisco...That City By the Bay

July 6, 2010: Walmart Looking for Store Sites in Northern California For 20,000 Sq-Ft Neighborhood Market by Walmart Prototype Store

June 28, 2010: Smart & Final to Open its New Format SmartCo Foods Stores in California and Arizona

June 26, 2010: Tesco Planning to Announce in July When First Northern California Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores to Open

June 14, 2010: Newly-Named Whole Foods Market CO-CEO Walter Robb Comes Full Circle With the Opening of the New Store in Mill Valley CA

June 5, 2010: Sprouts Farmers Market Opens First Northern California Store in Sunnyvale; Strikes Up Partnership With Local Non-Profit Farm

May 29, 2010: Going Rural: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to Build First Store in Los Banos, California

May 28, 2010: First Phase of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market-Anchored Condo Development in San Francisco's Bayview Set For Completion in June

May 9, 2010: A Whopping 15 of Whole Foods Market's 41 New Stores in Development are in California - And Nine of The 15 Are In Northern CA

May 8, 2010: Sprouts, and Likely Henry's to Beat Fresh & Easy to Northern California Despite it's Big Head Start

May 6, 2010: Going Smaller & Getting 'Hybrid': Walmart's Smaller Supercenter in Vacant Retail Buildings Strategy Began in 2008

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

[Also: click here , here and here for a selection of past stories on Fresh & Easy and Northern Calfornia.]

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