UFCW Union Pickets Out in Force This Morning At Manhattan Beach Fresh & Easy Store Grand Opening

In this piece on Monday, June 30, "Breaking News: UFCW Union Launches Preemptive Anti-Tesco Fresh & Easy Brochure Distribution Drop on the Eve of Manhattan Beach Store Grand Opening," Fresh & Easy Buzz reported the UFCW union had launched a preemptive anti-Tesco Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market brochure distribution blitz in the neighborhood where the new Manhattan Beach Tesco Fresh & Easy grocery store in Southern California opened this morning, on the eve of the store's grand opening celebration.

In the story, we also reported the UFCW union would have representatives and pickets out in force this morning at the grand opening of the store at 1700 Rosecrans in Manhattan Beach, which was attended by Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Tim Mason and nearly every senior executive of the company, along with the mayor of Manhattan Beach (who helped Mr. Mason cut the grand opening ribbon), and numerous other dignitaries.

Well, the UFCW representatives we out in force early this morning, and remained in front of the store until the grand opening festivities ended; staying even a bit later after that in fact.

As you can see in the photograph at the top, the UFCW union folks picketing in front of the store this morning are carrying large green signs which read: "Don't be Fooled by Tesco's Fresh & Easy, which is the same headline used on the brochures. Below that is the listing for the unions Fresh and Easy Facts campaign website, which also appears on the brochures. [Note to the UFCW graphics department: white lettering on that particular color green background doesn't have the best visibility.] [Readers Note: If you click on the photograph at top to enlarge it, you can read the letters on the signs much better.]

[Photo Credit: Lindsay William-Ross/LAist blog.]

You can view a slideshow from today's Fresh & Easy Manhattan Beach store grand opening here, along with reporting on the event by the LAist blog. You also can read this piece published earlier today in Fresh & Easy Buzz about the Fresh & Easy store grand opening this morning.

Manhattan Beach First Look: Fresh & Easy Buzz Has First Photos of First New Fresh & Easy Grocery Store Set to Open After the Three Month Pause

Fresh & Easy Buzz has the first photographs of Tesco's new Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market grocery store, which is scheduled to open on July 2 in a shopping center at 1700 Rosecrans Avenue, in Manhattan Beach in Southern California.

The new Manhattan Beach store will be the first new Fresh & Easy small-format, convenience-oriented combination basic grocery, fresh and specialty foods store opened by Tesco since its Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market USA division began a new store opening pause in early April, 2008.

Prior to that three month pause, which ends with the opening of the Manhattan Beach store on July 2, Tesco opened 61 Fresh & Easy grocery stores from late October, 2007 (Hemet, California was the first), to early April, 2008. That's a new store opening schedule of about one new store every 2.5 -to- 3 days during that six month time period.

The photographs of the nearly 100%-completed Manhattan Beach Fresh & Easy grocery store at 1700 Rosecrans Avenue were taken yesterday (June 5) by Fresh & Easy Buzz roving correspondent Reno Tom.

An interesting note is that Reno Tom took a number of the photographs below of the Fresh & Easy store from the entry area of a Trader Joe's specialty grocery store, which is located almost right next to the new Fresh & Easy in the shopping center. In fact, the Trader Joe's (1800 Rosecrans Avenue) and the Fresh & Easy store (1700 Rosecrans Avenue) share the same parking lot area.

It will be interesting, from far more than a photography aspect, to have these two small-format food retailers, who's formats have many merchanding aspects in common, so close to each other in the Manhattan Beach shopping center. We expect some interesting head-to-head competition to be one of the results of these two similar retailers becoming neighbors in the shopping center.

There's also a Whole Foods Market natural foods supermarket not far from the Trader Joe's and soon to be Fresh & Easy grocery market, as well as a Costco Wholesale store which sells a full-selection of dry grocery and fresh food products. As the say at the 'Indy 500' of food and grocery retailing..."Let the competition begin." The shopping center also isn't too far of a drive from busy LAX airport.

Fresh & Easy Buzz roving correspondent Reno Tom took this photograph of the soon to open Fresh & Easy grocery store at the shopping center at 1700 Rosecrans from the entryway of the nearby Trader Joe's market. The Trader Joe's store address is 1800 Rosecrans Avenue. Pretty close by, aren't they?

This shot of the new Manhattan Beach Fresh & Easy store's "Coming Soon" sign in front of the store shows the Trader Joe's store in the background at right if you look closely. That "Coming Soon" is about three weeks from now.

A corner-angle shot of the exterior of the store. The Fresh & Easy market in the shopping center is located in a former Office Depo big box store. Tesco shrunk the building to fit its 10,000 -to- 13,000 square feet average footprint, locating the Fresh & Easy store in the back portion of the former Office Depot store. As you can see, the store is almost fully-completed, but still has some finishing work to be done before it opens in about three weeks.

A wider-perspective shot of the new Manhattan Beach Fresh & Easy store exterior.

As you can see to the left of the F&E store, the new Fresh & Easy in the shopping center at 1700 Rosecrans Avenue in Manhattan Beach is located right next to a Home Depot store. That location should provide the Fresh & Easy grocery store with some good foot traffic, although California's poor economy and housing foreclosure crisis is currently resulting in significantly less shopping being done by consumers at home center stores like Home Depot. They shall return though. When is the big question.

Fresh & Easy Buzz roving correspondent Reno Tom took this shot from in front of the Trader Joe's store. (Notice the charcoal briquets and watermelons out front?) In the photograph you can see how close the Trader Joe's and Fresh & Easy grocery markets are to each other. Also notice how the parking lot is shared by both food retailers. Fresh & Easy's address: 1700 Rosecrans Avenue. Trader Joe's: 1800 Rosecrans Avenue.

Locating the Fresh & Easy store in the back portion of the huge former Home Depot store allows street access, as you can see in the shot above, to the store, which is located in a corner portion of the shopping center at 1700 Rosecrans Avenue.

The Trader Joe's market above at 1800 Rosecrans Avenue is nearly next door to the new Fresh & Easy grocery store at 1700 Rosecrans Avenue. The two stores even share a parking lot. Fresh & Easy Buzz roving correspondent Reno Tom says: "I can see the parking lot battles already; Trader Joe's vs. Fresh & Easy customers playing shopping cart chicken across the parking lot between the stores." Let the competition begin; but lets keep it inside the respective stores please.