Whole Foods' Video Mini-Series Charts One Man's Search For Love in the Aisles Before He Turns 30 On Valentine's Day

I've spent a lifetime looking for you
Single bars and good time lovers, never true
Playing a fools game, hoping to win
Telling those sweet lies and losing again.

I was looking for love in all the wrong places
Looking for love in too many faces
Searching your eyes, looking for traces
Of what.. I'm dreaming of...
Hopin' to find a friend and a lover
God bless the day I discover
Another heart, lookin' for love

- "Lookin' For Love (in All the Wrong Places)," from the movie "Urban Cowboy." View and listen to the soundtrack here.

Whole Foods Market goes to great lengths throughout the year to get shoppers to love its stores.

But from February 8 until Valentine's Day (February 14) the grocery chain's Southern Pacific Region, which includes its stores in Southern California, Southern Nevada and Hawaii, is giving a little of that love back by launching a video mini-series called, "In the Market - An Organic Love Story," which tracks one man's search for romance in the aisles of a Whole Foods' store.

The video mini-series, which is designed to give food and grocery shoppers "that loving feeling" in the week leading up to Valentine's Day, features the romantic adventures of Whole Foods' shopper Ben (pictured at top) who, aided by his pals Alex and Ted, sets out to find his Valentine before he turns 30 on Valentine's Day.

The first episode in the seven-part video mini-series aired February 8 at http://www.wholefoodslovelocal.com/. A new video is being released on the dedicated website everyday, with the final episode airing February 14, Valentine's Day.

In the mini-series Ben pays far more attention to the women walking the aisles of the Whole Foods' store than he does to the grocer's gleaming displays of fresh fruits and vegetables, the tempting displays of fresh baked goods, and even the huge end-cap displays of snacks and craft beers, although all these features serve as important backdrops in his love search.

Ben particularly seems to have his eye on every girl he sees wearing yoga pants, many of whom he attempts to seduce grocery store-style, offering everything from free wine to gourmet meals at his place.

"For many of our shoppers Whole Foods Market isn’t just where they go to grab all the fixings for dinner - it’s where they go to find the ingredients for love," said Andi Dowda, regional marketing coordinator for Whole Foods Market's Southern Pacific Region, in explaining the logic and strategy behind the creation of the video mini-series for Valentine's Day. "And with romance on the mind this time of year, these films are a fun, light-hearted approach to spreading that love for our shoppers to enjoy."

Marketer Dowda also suggests looking  for love, and meeting a potential mate, at a Whole Foods' store has a compatibility angle to it, saying: "Anyone can find love in the most unlikely places. As our character Ben put it, 'if you meet someone in Whole Foods, at least you know you have one thing in common - you both shop at the same store.'"

The character played by John Travolta in the movie "Urban Cowboy" - the song 'Lookin' for Love (in All the Wrong Places)" at the top of this piece - would likely agree with Whole Foods' Dowda.

"In the Market  - An Organic Love Story" is part of a newly-launched series of mini-documentaries called "Love Local," which celebrates the relationships Whole Foods Market’s Southern Pacific region stores have forged with their local partners, team members and customers, Dowda says. (You can view other videos in the series, along with Ben's search for the love of his life before he turns 30, at the website here.)

Whole Foods' operates on a very decentralized structure. It's regional divisions localize product selection (beyond a required core merchandise mix), merchandising and marketing in a way similar to what an independent grocer based in a given community might do. The system works extremely well for natural grocery chain and is a major key to the grocer's success.

Whole Foods Market has 39 of its 317 stores in its Southern Pacific region. There are: 32 units in Southern California, four stores in Southern Nevada, and three units in Hawaii.

The "In the Market - An Organic Love Story" series was produced for Whole Foods' Southern Pacific region division by Omelet, a Los Angeles, California-based branding, advertising and entertainment company.

We've viewed the first four episodes of the series. The videos are well done, and the writing is of a high-quality.

The marketing message is clear: Whole Foods Market is much more that simply a store to buy food and groceries at - it's a shopping experience. In other words, it ties in with Whole Foods' existing image and the extensive marketing effort the grocer puts forth to reinforce and grow that message and the Whole Foods' brand.

Love, romance, Valentines Day and Whole Foods, all tied together as a video mini-series, is also symbolic of the approach Whole Foods Market takes to food retailing, which is best demonstrated from a merchandising perspective by Co-CEO Walter Robb, who has approached natural and organic food retailing in a passionate and one might even suggest somewhat romantic, yet realistic, way for the three-plus decades he's been in the grocery business.

Food retailing as a passion is also an attribute Whole Foods' co-founder and CO-CEO John Mackey, who held the CEO position for nearly 30-years until asking Robb to share it with him in 2010, has built into the Whole Foods Market culture.

In fact, that shared view of food retailing as a passion, with a little romance thrown in, played a big part in Mackey offering to share the CEO position with Robb, who he personally hired in the early 1990's to supervise the construction of, open and manage the Miller Avenue store in Mill Valley, California.

Food retailing as a passion is real at Whole Foods,' rather than being a marketing or public relations slogan. It's a part of the culture, just like the yoga pants are.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday (Valentine's Day), we'll learn if Whole Foods' shopper Ben finds his "Valentine" on his 30th birthday, or if he will remain single, continuing his aisle-by-aisle, produce department and in-store bakery-to-whole body department search for the yoga pants-wearing girl of his dreams. Stay tuned.

Suggested Reading

April 1, 2011: A Natural & Organic Kind of Thing: Finding Love at Whole Foods Market

June 21, 2011: The 'Art' in Food Retailing On the First Day of Summer at Whole Foods Market in New York City's Chelsea District

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.

Tesco Celebrates the Holidays With Mince Pie Ice Cream in the UK and Pumpkin Spice at Fresh & Easy in America

Private Brand Showcase

A slice of pie, often with a scoop or more of ice cream on the side à la Mode style, is a post-Christmas dinner dessert tradition throughout much of the world, particularly in Europe and America.

For example, no proper British family would be caught dead without having a mince pie on the cupboard for dessert on Christmas Day.

By the same token, most American families include pumpkin pie as part of their holiday dessert offerings, often along with apple pie, and in some cases even mince.

As any kitchen anthropologist knows, when it comes to pie à la Mode, there are two types of eaters: the ones who like just a bit of ice cream to go along with a healthy slice of pie; and those ice cream lovers who prefer just a smidgen of pie to go along with their ice cream.

Those in the latter camp can rejoice this holiday season - at least if you live in the United Kingdom, California, Nevada or Arizona.

Why: Because Tesco in the United Kingdom and its sibling in America, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, which has 184 stores in California, Nevada and Arizona, are celebrating the holiday mince and pumpkin pie traditions in each respective country with special seasonal ice cream flavors.

Just in time for Christmas, Tesco has come out with mince pie ice cream under its Tesco Finest premium private brand, which it's offering in most of its 2,700-plus stores in the United Kingdom.

The ice cream is the second seasonal Tesco Finest brand product it's come out with a mince pie theme and taste. The other one is noted and pictured in this December 4, 2011 story: 'Merry Crispmas' ... From Tesco.

The Tesco Finest Mince Pie Ice Cream includes mincemeat made with French brandy and ruby port wine and bits of buttery pastry (the crust). There's also citrus and loads of spices, including cloves and cinnamon.

The limited edition ice cream, which is designed to stand alone rather than merely share a plate with mince pie, although mince pie lovers might find themselves "double-dipping" in a like-for-like à la Mode fashion.

Fresh & Easy, which is owned by Tesco, is offering its own frozen version of pumpkin pie, with its limited edition fresh&easy brand Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream, pictured above.

The ice cream, which retails for $3.99 (1.25 quarts) is spiced with nutmeg, ginger and cloves, similar to how a traditional pumpkin pie is.

Like the Tesco Finest Mince Pie Ice Cream, Fresh & Easy's Pumpkin pie version is also designed to stand alone, although we see numerous à la Mode opportunities. A scoop or two sharing the same plate as a white or vanilla cake might make for a nice taste contrast, for example. Sort of turning the pie (or cake) à la Mode tradition on its head, so to speak.

Mince pie used to be a much more popular Christmas holiday dessert item than it is today in the United States. It remains so for Americans of a certain age but ask most Americans under about age 60 if they would like mince pie for dessert come Sunday and, with some exceptions (British expats for one), the answer will be no thanks.

Pumpkin pie remains a holiday favorite in America though, its popularity usually knowing no age boundaries. For example, here at Fresh & Easy Buzz we know numerous kids as young as 6-years-old and on up who love the spicy custard pies, and not just for the holidays.

But ice cream could be another matter. For example, we've searched pretty comprehensively and haven't found a mince pie ice cream in the United States, perhaps for the reason described above regarding the overall popularity of mince pie in America.

But perhaps those mince pie adverse younger folks might like the pie's flavors offered in ice cream form?

As such, perhaps Fresh & Easy's product developers should consider giving a fresh&easy brand mince pie ice cream a go next holiday season. The recipe is in the family, after all.

And even if younger consumers don't take to it, there's definitely a age 60-plus (which happens to be the fastest growing population cohort in the United States) or so group of people out there in California, Nevada and Arizona that would likely give it a try.

[Photo Credit #1: fresh&easy Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream = Fresh & Easy Buzz.]
[Photo Credit #2: Tesco Finest Mince Pie Ice Cream = @Cinabar, via Twitter.]

Recent Private Brand Showcase Stories

December 5, 2011: The Tesco Christmas Dinner Pizza - A Festive Feast Without the Fork

December 4, 2011: 'Merry Crispmas' ... From Tesco 

December 1, 2011: Master Chocolate-Maker Tells the Story Behind Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's Holiday Confections

November 14, 2011: Safeway Puts its Brand on Ice in San Francisco For the Holidays

November 13, 2011: Trader Joe's Introduces 'Wasabi Arugula' ... Minus the Wasabi

November 9, 2011: Glatt to Meet You Paisan - Kosher 'Meats' Italian at Mollie Stone's Markets

Readers: Click here to read all past stories in our Private Brand Showcase feature.

Welcome to the (Eclectic) Neighborhood: Hermosa Beach, California Fresh & Easy Express Set to Open Jan. 11, 2012

Retail Ethnography

Welcome to the neighborhood.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market plans to open its micro-small-format (3,000 square-feet) Fresh & Easy Express fresh food and grocery store (pictured at top) at Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) and 8th Street on an eclectic commercial block in Hermosa Beach, California on January 11 2012, according to the banner (below) the grocer recently put on the exterior of the vacant building being renovated to house the store.

And an eclectic block it is - particularly the three retail stores that will be neighbors of the Fresh & Easy Express market when it opens in less than a month.

Sharing the block fronting the PCH and across 8th Street are three stores: Sassy's, The Tender Box and Learned Lumber.

The last business, Learned Lumber, is self-explanatory - it's a lumber yard.

But the other two, Sassy's and The Tender Box, are nearly impossible to discern from just the names of the stores.

Venture a guess what type or format of stores they are, without looking a the photos?, of course

Fortunately you don't have to guess, that's what we're here for - to go out in the field and report, and then inform.

Sassy's (at left, above), which is located next to The Tender Box (at right, above) and is a mere baguette's throw from the future Fresh & Easy Express store, is a adult lingerie and costume shop, featuring everything for a night at home (lingerie), a special night out (adult costumes) or a mix of both in the same evening.

If you're thinking The Tender Box might be, say, a tobacco shop, think again. And when trying to guess, think about its proximity next door to Sassy's.

Give up?

Well, and remember we're merely the messenger, The Tender Box specializes in adult entertainment and toys, and we aren't referring to consumer electronics, although some of the inventory for sale in The Tender Box does require batteries to use.

Unique business names seems to be the norm for the block.

For example, the vacant 4,000 or so square-foot building (pictured below) Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is putting the 'Express' market in previously housed a furniture store named Mortise & Tenon. For those not familiar with the term mortise & tenon, it is a type of joint used in wood working, such as in furniture-making. The store will have about 3,000 square-feet of selling space.

All four of the stores - Fresh & Easy Express, the lumber yard, Sassy's and The Tender Box are on the west side of the PCH. Learned Lumber and Fresh & Easy Express are next to one another on 8th Street, while Sassy's and The Tender Box are next to one another across 8th Street.

And yes, no need to ask - Learned Lumber does sell plenty of "hardwood," and the now gone furniture store - which the Fresh & Easy Express is replacing - also offered various items made out of that particular variety of lumber back in its day on the block.

The eclectic nature of the businesses on the block shared with the soon-to-open Fresh & Easy Express store actually are a pretty good depiction of the Hermosa Beach neighborhood itself, which is, well ... eclectic.

The demographic is mostly young. But there are also a number of older, long-term residents in the area, including a few folks who still call themselves hippies.

It's also fairly bohemian or hipster if you're looking for a lifestyle generalization.

There are also numerous singles and young couples in the neighborhood, which is highly dense and filled with apartment complexes and condominiums.

Our four-plus years of research and reporting on Tesco's Fresh & Easy shows younger people, those about 35 and under, as well as singles, tend to be the demographic that thus far has taken to the Fresh & Easy format the most, from a demographic and lifestyle perspective.

Therefore, the demographic and lifestyle composition of the neighborhood could bode well for the Fresh & Easy Express, which is essentially a smaller - about 3,000 square-feet, as compared to 10,000 square-feet - and edited - about 2,500-2,700 SKUs, as compared to about 5,500 SKUs - version of the 10,000 square-foot standard-version Fresh & Easy stores.

The area isn't an inexpensive place to live however.

Housing costs and rents in Hermosa Beach are a bit less than is the case in nearby Manhattan Beach (where Fresh & Easy has a store), for example.

But Hermosa Beach is only affordable from the perspective of what people living in coastal Southern California consider "affordable" to be. As an example, If you're reading this and renting a two bedroom apartment in metro Phoenix, Arizona (or some place similar), multiply what you're paying by a factor of around three.

What the neighborhood doesn't have much of is foot-traffic. Rather, the traffic in and around the block where the future Fresh & Easy Express store will open at Pacific Coast Highway and 8th Street, on January 8, 2012, is mostly automotive.

The 'Express' market will front the PCH, as you can see in the photo above. But there's also an entrance on 8th Street, where there's a small parking lot, pictured below.

There's no on-street parking to speak of either on 8th Street (a few spaces on one side of the street is all) or on the PCH. Therefore, the small parking lot next to the Fresh & Easy Express store on 8th Street is about it on what is a very auto-traffic heavy block.

These same tight space conditions might also make food and grocery deliveries to the 'Express' store a bit of a challenge. The earlier in the morning the better would probably be a good move.

The Hermosa Beach neighborhood isn't a food desert.

There's a Ralphs' Fresh Fare supermarket, for example, along with a big CVS Pharmacy drug store, which has a large selection of groceries, perishables and frozen foods (and liquor, beer and wine) but no fresh foods like meat or produce, and a 7-Eleven convenience store, all a couple to a few minutes drive from the Fresh & Easy Express location at Pacific Coast Highway and 8th Street.

Additionally, there's a Whole Foods Market store about 10 minutes away by car from Pacific Coast Highway and 8th Street, along with a couple other grocery stores a 10-15 minute drive away.

The Hermosa Beach Fresh & Easy Express set to open January 11 is one of four 'Express' format stores Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market plans to open in early 2012, as we reported and detailed in this story on November 15, 2011: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to Open 20-Plus New Stores in Early 2012 - We Have What's Not in the Press Release.

The other three Fresh & Easy Express stores with planned early 2012 openings are in Los Angeles, Burbank and Laguna Niguel. The addresses of those stores are in the story linked above.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market opened its first 'Express' store at La Cienega Boulevard and 18th Street in Los Angeles November 2, 2011.It's the only Fresh & Easy Express unit currently open.

In addition to the La Cienega store, we've identified the addresses of six more future Fresh & Easy Express stores - the three noted earlier set for early 2012 openings, plus two more, which we listed in this November 23, 2011 story: Tesco and its Fresh & Easy Chain Hoping 'Seven' is the Lucky Number For 'Fresh & Easy Express.'

There are also photographs of the Burbank Fresh & Easy Express, construction in progress, in the November 23 piece.

Back at Pacific Coast Highway and 8th Street, where the Fresh & Easy Express store will soon open in the former furniture store building, we don't see a whole lot of retail synergy coming to the grocery market from its immediate neighbors - Sassy's, The Tender Box and Learned Lumber - although one can imagine that after spending time shopping in any or all three of the stores one might have worked up a bit of a thirst or hunger.

Conversely, we doubt if the Fresh & Easy Express will bring much new business to Sassy's, The Tendor Box and Learned Lumber, since all three stores tend to be what retail experts call destination stores.

The lumber yard, for example, tends to deal primarily with contractors and local handymen rather than off the street trade, although its probable that after loading a truck with lumbar a contractor might venture over the the Fresh & Easy Express for a bite to eat and a beverage.

And we could be completely wrong about synergies in the case of Sassy's and the Tender Box. Both stores cater to women as well as men, for example - and it is a fact women shop for groceries at a much higher percentage than men do. So perhaps the close proximity of the three stores will lead to a bit of synergy for the two stores plus the Fresh & Easy Express.

But, in a less tongue-in-cheek analysis, based on the demographics of the neighborhood, the potential for the Fresh & Easy Express store doing well in the area is fairly high. For example, the large selection of ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat fresh-prepared foods available in the "Express' format stores should be particularly popular with the young and single residents in the Hermosa Beach neighborhood.

Conversely, the major drawback for the Fresh & Easy Express store at Pacific Coast Highway and 8th Street in Hermosa Beach is the lack of adequate parking. The nearby Ralphs, CVS drug store, 7-Eleven and Whole Foods Market store all have large parking lots, for example. And since the neighborhood is high on auto transit and low on foot-traffic, having adequate parking is a very important variable.

But Fresh & Easy Express is a eclectic little store - its small but stocked with plenty of ready-to-eat and heat foods; has an in-store bakery; offers an assortment of groceries, perishables, frozen foods and non-foods items; sells beer and wine; and serves fresh coffee by the cup - and the commercial strip where it's located on Pacific Coast Highway and 8th Street offers an eclectic mix of retail, to say the least. So perhaps the little grocery store will fit right in, sharing the block with Sassy's, The Tender Box and Learned Lumber, in a Hermosa Beach bohemian kind of way.

[Editor's Note: Photo Credit - Fresh & Easy Buzz. The photographs were taken by a Fresh & Easy Buzz correspondent on 12/07/11. Click on the photos to enlarge.]

Related Stories

November 23, 2011: Tesco and its Fresh & Easy Chain Hoping 'Seven' is the Lucky Number For 'Fresh & Easy Express'

November 2, 2011: Open in Los Angeles: A Look at the First 'Fresh & Easy Express' Store

November 1, 2011: Analysis: Tesco Opens First 'Fresh & Easy Express' Store Tomorrow in Los Angeles ... So What ... ?

July 30, 2011: First 4,000 Sq. Ft. Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market 'Express' Store Set to Open in Los Angeles' San Pedro Community This Year

January 23, 2011: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Looking For Locations For New, Smaller-Format 4,000-to-5,000 Square-Foot Stores

More Reshuffling: Number Two Marketing Exec Follows CMO Uwins Out the Door at Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

Tesco's Fresh & Easy celebrated birthday number four November 9.



The top-level management reshuffling and integration of the marketing function into a new combination buying-merchandising-marketing department headed by chief customer officer and former chief commercial (buying and merchandising) officer John Burry continues at Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.

The latest departure from the Fresh & Easy's El Segundo, California headquarters is marketing operations director Paul Madarieta, who was the number two marketing executive in what was until a couple weeks ago the standalone marketing department.

Madarieta, now gone, reported directly to former chief marketing officer (CMO) Simon Uwins, who as we were the first to report in this story on November 10 left Fresh & Easy and Tesco in a top-level shakeup initiated by Philip Clarke, the CEO of Tesco, and Tesco group deputy CEO/chief marketing officer Tim Mason, who's also the CEO of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.

Madarieta joined Fresh & Easy in late 2007 in a retail operations capacity. His title before moving into marketing was regional director of California stores.

He was later brought into the grocery chain's corporate marketing department by CEO Mason, who, according to our sources, believed his knowledge of retail operations, particularly in California, and high-level of enthusiasm would make him a good addition to the department and to the grocery chain's marketing efforts.

Mason, who since March of this year has been Tesco's chief marketing officer and deputy CEO, in addition to remaining CEO of Fresh & Easy, was the United Kingdom-based global retailer's chief marketing officer before coming to California in 2006 to start up Fresh & as its founding CEO.

Madarieta became Fresh & Easy's marketing operations director in January 2010.

As part of the shake up that resulted in Simon Uwins' leaving Fresh & Easy (see here), Madarieta was offered a lessor position in the new, combined department being headed up by John Burry, which he ultimately declined, instead leaving the 184-store fresh food and grocery chain, according to our sources.

Madarieta's position, like that of his former boss Simon Uwins, has been eliminated by Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood market recently posted an advertisement for a marketing analyst, a position that pays considerably less a salary than the former marketing operations director position, and a whole lot less than the chief marketing officer position formerly held by Uwins. The marketing analyst will work in the new joint commercial (buying-merchandising)-marketing department being headed up by chief customer officer John Burry.

Prior to joining Tesco's Fresh & Easy, Paul Madarieta spent a number of years working for iconic specialty grocer Trader Joe's, which Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has sought to emulate in a number of operational and merchandising ways, ranging from store size and look and its focus on private brands, to putting an emphasis on the wine category, among others.

Madarieta started out as a crew member (store clerk) at Trader Joe's. He later became a store captain (store manager), and from there was promoted to a regional vice president position with the Southern California-based grocery chain.

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has hired a number of former Trader Joe's employees.

For example, Larry Biggerstaff, Fresh & Easy's current director of grocery buying and merchandising (reporting to John Burry), was the vice president of merchandising at Trader Joe's prior to joining El Segundo, California-based Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market last year, as we reported in this September 11, 2010 story - Ex-Trader Joe's VP, Winn-Dixie Exec Larry Biggerstaff New Director of Grocery at Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.

A number of category managers and buyers at Fresh & Easy also have previously worked for Trader Joe's, which is headquartered in the Southern California city of Monrovia.

For example, in the November 10 story about Simon Uwins' departure, we mentioned that three key mid-level headquarters employees had also recently left the grocery chain.

One of the employees who left in the last 60 days is Mei-Lon Jimenez, who until her departure was the category manager for bakery at Fresh & Easy, and prior to joining the grocery chain worked for Trader Joe's.

In her position at Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, Jimenez played a significant role in the start up of the new in-store bakery departments the grocer is putting in many of its stores. We broke the news about the bakery development in this May 18, 2011 story. Fresh & Easy started the in-store bakery installations late this summer. It's on the record as saying its goal is to have the bakeries in about 100 of its 184 grocery markets by the end of this year.

The former Fresh & Easy bakery category manager is now working for the Coles supermarket chain in Australia.

We discovered she joined the down-under supermarket chain two weeks ago when Coles' posted her name on a portion of its website, listing her as its new category manager for cheese. A senior executive at the supermarket chain confirmed the posting. She started at the down-under chain last week, according to the source.

Coles' is headed up by former British supermarket executive Ian McLeod. Its senior management team includes numerous veterans of the food and grocery retailing business in the United Kingdom, including Tesco, as we detailed in this December 25, 2009 piece: It's 'British Invasion: The Sequel Down Under' For Former Tesco Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Director of Grocery Charlotte Maxwell.

Another related Coles-Tesco Fresh & Easy angle: Charlotte Maxwell, who worked for Tesco for nine years and was the director of grocery buying and merchandising at Fresh & Easy from 2006 until August 22, 2008, joined Coles in April 2009 as its general manager of deli and bakery, which includes cheese. Ironically, she left Coles (about 30 days ago) to pursue other occupational opportunities. (Click here to read about Ms. Maxwell's departure from Tesco's Fresh & Easy and her joining Coles in Australia.)

With the departure of the number one (Simon Uwins) and two (Paul Madarieta) marketing executives at Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, chief customer officer John Burry has taken on the dual-responsibility for the corporate commercial (buying and merchandising) and marketing functions at the Tesco-owned chain, as we reported in our November 10 story.

Additionally, as we noted in the story, Tim Lee, who's been Fresh & Easy's director of fresh foods, reporting to Burry, is stepping in as a key player in the grocery chain's marketing efforts. He continues to report to Burry

Lee is being replaced as director of fresh foods by Ian Fletcher, who previously was in charge of Fresh & Easy's kitchen operation. He too reports to John Burry, as does Lee and director of grocery Larry Biggerstaff.

From a balance sheet (cost savings) perspective, Uwins' salary is being absorbed into Burry's, perhaps with a slight bump, while Madarieta's position and salary will essentially be absorbed by Tim Lee. As previously noted, the two marketing positions have been eliminated.

Tesco will report its 2011/12 fiscal year third quarter results on December 8, although it won't likely offer specific sales and loss numbers for Fresh & Easy, as it generally doesn't do so except when reporting half (interim) and full-year results.

On October 5, 2011 Tesco reported a fiscal 2011/12 half-year loss of $112 million for Fresh & Easy, on sales of $470 million. The loss is 21-23% (depending on how recorded) lower than the one reported for Fresh & Easy for the same period in the previous fiscal year.

The United Kingdom-based global retailer's CEO, Philip Clarke, says Tesco will break-even with Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market by the end of the 2012/13 fiscal year, which is 15 months away. The 2012/13 fiscal year ends February 2013. Tesco reports its sales and profits/loss for the year in April 2013.

Post Script: Take a look at prediction number 7 in this story from last year - December 30, 2010: Seven Predictions For Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market For 2011.

Also see these columns by our 'The Insider' columnist, all published before Philip Clarke became CEO of Tesco in March 2011:

>October 8, 2010: Incoming Tesco CEO Philip Clarke Needs to 'Imagine' When it Comes to Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market USA

>September 13, 2010: Reading Philip Clarke's Tea Leaves: Might A Mixed Corporate/Franchise Model Be in Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's Future?

>June 12, 2010: Will Phil Clarke Shake Things up at Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market USA When He Becomes Tesco CEO in 2011?

Additional Related Stories

November 17, 2011: 'Meat Guru'-Category Manager Bill Arnold Out at Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

November 10, 2011: Chief Marketing Officer Uwins Out in Top-Level Reshuffling at Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.

October 27, 2011: Former Meat Buyer Wins $400,000-Plus Legal Judgment From Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

February 23, 2011: Incoming Tesco CEO Philip Clarke Visits America - And Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

February 28, 2011: Changing of the Guard: Clarke Takes Over the Reins as Tesco CEO Wednesday

Click on this link - Fresh and Easy headquarters personel changes - for more related stories.

[Photo credit: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.]

Andronico's to Close Another Store in Berkeley as Part of 'Comeback' Strategy

The Insider - Heard on the Street

On October 17, 2011 San Francisco Bay area-based Andronico's Community Markets and its new owner, Renovo Capital, said in a press release announcing the closing of its store on University Avenue in Berkeley, California that it didn't plan on closing any of the shrinking grocery chain's remaining three stores in the University city (Cal Berkeley) where it's had a major presence for decades with four supermarkets.

In my column the following day - October 18, 2011: May-to-October at 82-Year-Old Andronico's Markets: New Owner, 2 Stores Closed ... Now What? - I said this (below in italics):

"The new owner (investment firms Renovco Capital and Rosewood Private Investments) said yesterday that it doesn't plan to close any of the remaining three stores in Berkeley. But it wouldn't surprise me in the least bit if the investment firms aren't forced soon to close one of the remaining three Andronico's stores in the city, even though I believe it would like to keep all three for reasons of having a better retailing critical mass in Berkeley.

My predicted candidate for closure in Berkeley, if it comes, is the Telegraph Avenue Andronico's unit, which over the last couple years has lost considerable sales to a nearby Whole Foods Market store and Berkeley Bowl, a very popular and high volume local two-store independent grocer. Both Berkeley Bowl stores are located in the city."

Yesterday, Andronico's said in a prepared statement that it will close the Telegraph Avenue store in Berkeley.

Adam Alberti, who's acting as a spokesperson for the grocer and its new owner, said yesterday that the specific date the store will be closed has yet to be determined. I'm told by my sources though that Andronico's will most likely close the Telegraph Avenue store by the end of the year.

The closing of the Berkeley supermarket leaves Andronico's with just five stores - two units in Berkeley (East Bay area) and one store each in San Francisco, Los Altos (South Bay Area) and San Anselmo (Marin County) - down from a high of 14 units less than a decade ago.

Prior to July 2011 there were eight Andronico's grocery stores in the San Francisco Bay Area.

So far this year Andronico's has closed three supermarkets - a unit in Palo Alto in July, the store on University Avenue in Berkeley last month, and now the Telegraph Avenue-Berkeley store, which of the three was the largest unit in terms of square-footage.

In a follow-up column on October 30 - 'The Insider' Offers Some Advice He Suggests the New Owners of Northern California's Andronico's Markets Should Take Post-Haste - I offered Renovco Capital and Bill Andronico (who remains president of the grocery chain his family owned for 82-years until last month) a five-step playbook of suggested actions to take immediately regarding the turning around of Andronico's.

One of those action steps including the closing of an additional store, as you can read in the October 30 column linked above.

I also suggested Andronico's senior management team do a complete review of the chain's operations, marketing, merchandising and promotional functions. The closing of the Telegraph Avenue store is part of that evaluation process, which began around the first week of November.

If you bake it will they come? A selection of cakes on display in the bakery at an Andronico's store this month.

Additionally, I had a chance to visit two of the Andronico's Community Markets stores last week - the unit in San Francisco's Inner Sunset District and the store on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley.

Both stores were fully-stocked and ready for the Thanksgiving holiday. The fresh foods departments - produce, meat, bakery and deli-prepared foods - all looked good, as did the numerous displays throughout the store.

Andronico's is using the signs above to communicate to shoppers it's stocking the stores and back in business.

When I last visited the two stores in late summer, they were looking a bit rugged, although not nearly as bad as the University Avenue store in Berkeley closed last month and the Telegraph Avenue store set to close did at the time.

But last week the two stores I visited - and I have a history of knowing what the two units look like at their best - were attractive and well-merchandised.

In my first column about Andronico's financial struggles, on May 30, 2011 here - 82-Year-Old Grocer Andronico's Needs A Sugar Daddy of Sorts: 'The Insider' Suggest Tesco and its Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Might Fit the Bill - I suggested one of the first things the grocer should do was to establish a social media presence, particularly on Facebook and Twitter, which is something it wasn't doing at the time.

As I noted in my October 30 column, three weeks later, on June 20, Andronico's Community Markets became active with a Facebook page, and on July 29 launched a feed on Twitter (@andronicos1).

In that same October 30 column (as one of the five action steps I suggested the grocer take immediately), I suggested Andronico's "Hold a 'Thanksgiving' community celebration at each store, thanking shoppers for sticking with Andronico's through tough times - and letting them know better days are coming soon," along with promoting the events on its Facebook page and Twitter feed.

Andronico's did just that in mid-November. For example, take a look (here) at the Thanksgiving-themed customer appreciation days the grocer has been hosting at its stores this month and promoting on its Facebook page. The grocer also used its Twitter feed to promote the "Thanksgiving" customer thank you events.

Andronico's also took advantage today of the nationwide small business Saturday event that's being promoted as the shop locally/small business version of Black Friday.

The grocer created the attractive poster pictured at top to promote the event, touting its stores as the place to shop locally for food and groceries today.

Andronico's Community Markets has also been conducting a variety of special promotions in its stores over the last few weeks, including a fall food festival at its Shattuck Avenue store in Berkeley that featured food samplings from the store's fresh foods departments and tastings conducted by numerous specialty foods vendors, like Dulce Chutney, pictured above.

The event also featured local guitarist Lucas Gonze (below) performing in the wine and spirits department at the Shattuck Avenue-Berkeley Andronico's store.

It's been about a month since Renovco Capital officially took over ownership of Andronico's, although its been providing financing for the small chain since around August-September of this year.

The senior management team and store employees have hit the ground running in the last 4-6 weeks, getting the remaining stores back in shape and promoting the "Comeback."

There's much more to do - and I will elaborate on my playbook for Andronico's, which I began in my May 30 column, continued on October 15 and October 30, and recapped here today, in the near future.

The future looks much better for Andronico's Community Markets (I still think the new owner should drop the community markets from the name and return back to the original Andronico's Markets) than it did just a couple months ago. But, as noted - there's still a long way to go in what is a very competitive market region.

Related Stories

October 30, 2011: 'The Insider' Offers Some Advice He Suggests the New Owners of Northern California's Andronico's Markets Should Take Post-Haste

October 18, 2011: Look for Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to Grab Closing University Avenue Andronico's Supermarket in Berkeley CA ... If it Can

October 18, 2011: May-to-October at 82-Year-Old Andronico's Markets: New Owner, 2 Stores Closed ... Now What?

May 30, 2011: 82-Year-Old Grocer Andronico's Needs A Sugar Daddy of Sorts: 'The Insider' Suggest Tesco and its Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Might Fit the Bill

>You can read all of our 'The Insider' columns at this link -  The Insider - along with all past coverage about Andronico's here.

Tesco and its Fresh & Easy Chain Hoping 'Seven' is the Lucky Number For 'Fresh & Easy Express'

Construction on the Fresh & Easy Express store at Victory Boulevard and Buena Vista Street in Burbank, California, pictured above and below, is in full swing. The store is set for an early 2012 opening. The photos were taken by a Fresh & Easy Buzz correspondent on November 18, 2011. Note the "now hiring" banner in the photo below. [Photo credit: Fresh & Easy Buzz.]

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market opened its first 3,000 square-foot (of selling space within a 4,000 square-foot interior space) Fresh & Easy Express format store at La Cienega Boulevard and 18th Street (1788 S. La Cienega Blvd.) in Los Angeles, California on November 2.

[See - November 1, 2011: Analysis: Tesco Opens First 'Fresh & Easy Express' Store Tomorrow in Los Angeles ... So What ... ? and November 2, 2011: Open in Los Angeles: A Look at the First 'Fresh & Easy Express' Store for details.]

Over the last week or so we've received e-mails from numerous Fresh & Easy Buzz readers, asking how many additional 'Express' stores Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market currently plans to open.

As we've previously reported, including most recently in our November 1, 2011 piece linked above, we've discovered an additional six Fresh & Easy Express stores Tesco and its Fresh & Easy chain plan to open next year, for a total of seven units thus far. All seven stores are in Southern California.

As a service to our readers, we've identified the specific locations of the additional six Fresh & Easy Express stores Tesco's Fresh & Easy currently plans to open.

Listed below are the addresses of all seven 'Express' units - the store opened November 2 and the six additional units planned thus far.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy has not publicly announced the specific locations of the six of the additional 'Express' stores to date. Therefore, we believe you're seeing all six locations for the first time here.

1. Los Angeles
La Cienega Boulevard and 18th Street
Los Angeles County
(Opened November 2, 2011)

2. Los Angeles
Figuera Street and Jeffferson Boulevard (near USC campus)
Los Angeles County

3. Los Angeles/San Pedro
Sixth and Gaffey Streets
Los Angeles County

4. Burbank
Victory Boulevard and Buena Vista Street
Los Angeles County

5. Hermosa Beach
Pacific Coast Highway and 8th Street
Los Angeles County.

6. Laguna Niguel
Crown Valley Parkway and Golden Street
Orange County.

7. Seal Beach
800 Pacific Coast Highway and Main Street
Orange County


The Burbank Fresh & Easy Express unit, pictured above and at top, is in a strip mall.  It will be the only grocery market in the small strip center. There's a Kroger-owned Ralphs supermarket across the street. Ralphs' is the leading grocery chain in Southern California. [Photo credit: Fresh & Easy Buzz 11/18/11.]

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is currently preparing three of the six yet-to-be-opened 'Express' format stores listed above - the Figuera Street and Jeffferson Boulevard store in Los Angeles; the Pacific Coast Highway and 8th Street unit in Hermosa Beach; and the Victory Boulevard and Buena Vista Street location in Burbank - for early 2012 openings, as we noted in this story on November 15.

Fresh & Easy has also started hiring employees for the three 'Express' stores.

In addition to the seven Fresh & Easy Express locations, the 184-store fresh food and grocery chain continues to look for additional sites in California where it might locate the micro-small-format stores, which are a scaled-down version of the 10,000 square-foot standard Fresh & Easy markets.

The Fresh & Easy Express stores offer all the product categories - dry grocery, perishables, produce, meat, beer and wine, fresh-prepared foods - that the standard version Fresh & Easy stores do, but in an edited version.

For example, the 10,000 square-foot markets stock about 5,500 SKUs. In contrast, the Fresh & Easy Express format features about 2,500-2700 SKUs in the 3,000 square-feet of selling space.

The 'Express' store opened on November 2 in Los Angeles also has an in-store bakery and self-service coffee bar, which are features Tesco's Fresh & Easy is adding to about 100 of its stores. According to our sources, plans are for all of the Fresh & Easy Express stores to include the bakeries and coffee bars.

Tesco and its Fresh & Easy chain have said the Fresh & Easy Express format is a test.

However, Tim Mason, the CEO of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market and Tesco's group deputy CEO-chief marketing officer, said last year and again this year (see here and here) that Fresh & Easy could open as many as 70 new stores in the Los Angeles area over the next couple years.

Fresh & Easy has opened a handful of new stores in Los Angeles this year, with some planned there for next year. Many of the 70 potential units Mason is referring to would be Fresh & Easy Express stores, according to the information we have.

But for now its a total of seven Fresh & Easy Express stores that Tesco's Fresh & Easy plans to have open and operating in 2012.

And ... Tesco and its Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market chain are hoping it's the 'Lucky Number Seven' when it comes to its Fresh & Easy Express format.

Chief Marketing Officer Uwins Out in Top-Level Reshuffling at Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

Simon Uwins, chief marketing officer for Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market since early 2006 when the United Kingdom-based global retailer set up shop in El Segundo, California, is out as part of a top-level management reshuffling by Tesco's CEO, Philip Clarke, and Tim Mason, CEO of Fresh & Easy and Tesco group deputy CEO/chief marketing officer.

In addition to his position as chief marketing officer, Uwins was one of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's senior corporate officers. He reported directly to CEO Mason.

Mason announced Uwins' departure from Fresh & Easy and parent company Tesco Wednesday at the grocery chain's Town Hall meeting.

The Town Hall meetings, which include the full office staff and are broadcast to employees at the Riverside distribution campus, are held weekly at 1 p.m at Fresh & Easy's corporate office in El Segundo, California

Neither United Kingdom-based Tesco or Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has publicly announced Uwins' departure. As a matter of policy, Fresh & Easy doesn't announce when senior executives or employees at any level leave the company. Additionally, Fresh & Easy doesn't as a practice announce new hires at any level.

Simon Uwins, 52, was part of the original team of senior executives who came with Mason to set up and launch Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market in 2006. Prior to that he worked at Tesco's global headquarters in Cheshunt, United Kingdom, where he was a marketing executive.

As part of Uwins' departure as chief marketing officer at Fresh & Easy, Clarke and Mason have reshuffled the organization chart, making a number of changes.

John Burry, Fresh & Easy's chief commercial officer (head of buying and merchandising), is assuming overall responsibility for both the commercial and marketing functions at the Tesco-owned fresh food and grocery chain.

Like Uwins, Burry is one of the original members of Fresh & Easy's senior management team. He is also a senior corporate officer of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.

The commercial department has two directors - grocery and fresh foods - who report directly to Burry. Below them are category managers, who are direct-reports to the directors. The category managers have buyers and assistant buyers directly reporting to them.

One of the two directors (the other is Larry Biggerstaff), Tim Lee, the trading director for fresh foods (produce, meat, deli/fresh-prepared foods) is vacating that position and will be working with John Burry to transition the marketing function at Fresh & Easy into the commercial department, according to our sources.

Lee won't be replacing Uwins as chief marketing officer but rather assuming many of his day-to-day marketing management duties. He will continue to report to Burry.

Tim Lee came to Fresh & Easy from Tesco in the UK in early-2010, replacing Jim Jensen, who left to take a position heading up drug chain Walgreens' new at the time fresh foods program. Lee's focus at Tesco in the UK was as a produce category manager and director.

According to our sources, Lee has 9-10 months left on his original assignment contract at Fresh & Easy. He will be using that time in the new position, which straddles commercial and marketing, our sources tell us.

Ian Fletcher, who runs Fresh & Easy's fresh-prepared foods kitchen operation, is replacing Lee as director of fresh foods, according to our sources.

Fletcher, who originally worked in the UK, has been with Fresh & Easy for a number of years. His wife, Karen Fletcher, was the beer, wine and spirits category manager at Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market from 2007 until this summer, when she resigned. She too previously worked for Tesco in the UK. The Fletcher's were married not long after coming to Fresh & Easy at the start up stage. John Burry was the best man at the their wedding in Hawaii.

Rounding out the reshuffling, Mark Lodge will take over management of Fresh & Easy's corporate kitchen operation when Ian Fletcher moves into the director of fresh foods position, replacing Tim Lee, according to our sources.

Lodge is currently an employee of the kitchen operation, which is Fresh & Easy's central commissary at the Riverside County, California campus facility, where the ready-to-eat and ready-to-eat fresh-prepared foods sold in its 184 stores in California, Nevada and Arizona are prepared and packaged.

From a balance sheet perspective, the reshuffling will save Fresh & Easy one senior-level executive salary and benefits package, which is that of the departed Simon Uwins. Some of that savings will be taken up by probable pay raises going to Ian Fletcher and Mark Lodge in their respective new positions. Tim Lee is likely a wash, and it's unlikely Burry will be getting a raise as part of assuming the overall responsibility for marketing, in addition to keeping his commercial department duties.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy has lost a number of key middle management-level employees at its El Segundo, California headquarters over the last 60 days, according to our sources.

The employees include: a key director/manager in the grocery chain's logistics and supply chain department; a category manager/buyer who was playing a major role in heading up Fresh & Easy's new in-store bakery program, which is still in its infant stages; and a veteran-senior level  member of its information technology (IT) department.

All three of these employees left to take new jobs in the food and grocery industry, according to our sources.

Simon Uwins currently plans to remain in the U.S. rather than returning to the UK, according to our sources.

Tesco currently has no immediate plans to name a new chief marketing officer for Fresh & Easy either, our sources tell us, instead combining the marketing function and department with commercial under the direction of John Burry, as reported and detailed above.

Additionally, since Fresh & Easy's CEO, Tim Mason, is also Tesco's chief marketing officer and is based at the grocery chain's headquarters in Southern California, he will likely play a strong hand in the U.S. operation's marketing, since in the position, which he was named to in March of this year when Clarke became CEO of Tesco, he has the ultimate responsibility for all of Tesco's corporate marketing.

Therefore the new structure - no chief marketing officer at Fresh & Easy - has, at least theoretically, the effect of flattening the organizational chart at the senior level when it comes to the marketing function at Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market and the headquarters office in El Segundo, California, where Mason is based.

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to Offer Alcohol Beverage Tastings in Some of its California Stores

Breaking Buzz

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has applied for a license to hold wine and beer tastings at its store in the Willow Glen shopping center at Bird Avenue and Minnesota in San Jose, California. San Jose, which is the largest city in Northern California with over 1 million residents, is located in the South Bay Area region.

The photograph at top, taken today by a Fresh & Easy Buzz correspondent, shows the alcohol beverage tasting application sign on the front window of the store. The application is for a tasting license, as is noted on the second subject line. The store already offers alcoholic beverages for sale. You can click on the photo at top to enlarge it.

Employees of the store tell us the Willow-Glen neighborhood Fresh & Easy store plans to start holding tasting events as soon as the license application is approved by the California Alcohol Beverage Control Department.

Additionally, we've learned via our reporting that Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market  plans to apply for alcohol beverage tasting licenses for some of its other 134 stores in California.

United Kingdom-based Tesco, which is the third-largest retailer in the world after number two Carrefour of France and U.S.-based Walmart Stores, Inc., currently operates 183 Fresh & Easy grocery markets in the Western U.S. The other 49 Fresh & Easy stores are in Arizona (28 units) and Nevada (21 stores).

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market hasn't publicly announced its plans to begin holding alcohol beverage tastings at its Willow Glen-San Jose store, or at any of its other grocery markets in California, or elsewhere.

New California law

Last year the California State Legislature passed a legislative bill (AB 605) that then-Governor Schwarzenegger signed  into law which loosed the restrictions on how alcohol beverage tastings are required to be conducted in retail stores in the Golden State.

The new law, which went into effect January 1, 2011, allows supermarkets, mass merchandisers and large liquor stores to host free wine, beer and distilled spirits tastings as long as the area where the tastings are conducted are separated out from the rest of the store by a temporary barrier of some sort, such as a rope, fence or chain.

Previously retailers were required to dedicate a permanent section of the store for the alcohol beverage tastings if they wanted to hold such events.

One retailer that's had such dedicated areas in its stores for a number of years is Northern California-based Beverages & More (BevMo), which is a category-killer format, specializing in the wine, beer and spirits categories, along with specialty foods.

However, besides BevMo, few grocers with stores in California have created such dedicated spaces in their stores in order to hold the tasting events.

Whole Foods Market and West Sacramento-based Raley's Supermarkets have in-store restaurants and cafe's in many of their respective stores in California. As a result, a number of the two chains' stores hold alcoholic beverage tastings in the restaurant/cafes, which not only qualified as a dedicated area under the old law but is a natural place to hold tastings because there's seating and food available.

For example, the Raley's store at 255 South Tracy Boulevard in Tracy, California holds alcoholic beverage tasting events in the store's restaurant/cafe every Wednesday from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Think happy hour. Tracy is in California's Northern Central Valley, about an hour's drive from San Francisco.

The restaurant and cafe, which is attached to but separate from the store's deli department, features prepared food and drink items in an eat-in area that has a seating bar, a lounging and eating area with tables and chairs and a big screen television set.

Pictured above and below: A recent wine tasting event at the Raley's superstore in Tracy, California. The photos were taken by a Fresh & Easy Buzz correspondent who attended the event, which also featured a full-spread of food, which you can see in the photo above.

Under the new law Raley's and Whole Foods Market, like all other grocers, can now hold the tastings elsewhere in the stores if they choose. But in those stores with dining and drinking-in areas - Whole Foods' has numerous stores in California, for example, that have either in-store wine or beer bars (and often both) where the drinks are available for sale by the glass - it makes good sense for a variety of reasons to do the tasting events in them.

Most of these Whole Foods' stores in California that have such in store features, which are attached to in store restaurants or food bars, hold alcoholic beverage tastings.

For example, the patio wine bar at Whole Foods' store in San Francisco's Potrero Hill District, where the grocer holds regular tastings, has become a neighborhood hangout and a third place, where people eat - food is available in the attached in-store restaurant - drink wine and catch up on what's happening with each other and in their neighborhood. Home and the workplace are the first and second places for most of us.

But most grocers in California haven't set up the dedicated spaces because square-footage is an extremely valuable commodity in a supermarket. Therefore it's difficult for a grocer to justify setting aside even 500 square-feet to be used only for alcoholic beverage tastings, particularly when that space can be used as merchandising space to produce sales on a daily basis.

The new law that went into effect in January of this year has opened the door for grocers to offer the tastings because they need only to temporarily rope off a section of the store, say in the beer, wine and spirits department, when they hold a tasting, rather then permanently dedicate valuable square-footage for the events, as was required under the old law.

Grocer interest growing

Not much application activity took place during the first few months of this year following the new law's taking effect. However its been picking up considerably over the last few months, according to a spokesperson for the state Alcohol Beverage Control Department.

We've also discovered a spate of recent activity among grocers in our reporting. For example, a number of Whole Foods' stores in Southern and Northern California have started conducting tastings, under the provisions of the new law, over the last few months, as have some stores operated by Southern California-based upscale grocer Bristol Farms.

Also in Southern California, Albertsons, which is owned by Supervalu, Inc., has applied for tasting licenses for some of its 200-plus stores in the region.

Mollie Stone's begins tastings

In Northern California, Mill Valley, California-based Mollie Stone's Markets, which operates nine stores in the San Francisco Bay Area, began its first alcohol beverage tastings - after recently receiving licenses at the stores - at six of its nine stores - three units in San Francisco and the stores in Burlingame and Greenbrae - on Friday, October 28.

Friday's Halloween-themed tasting, which was held from 3-6 p.m at the six supermarkets, featured Hornsby Hard Cider.

A spokesperson for Mollie Stone's told us the grocer is waiting to receive its tasting licenses for the other three stores, which are in San Bruno, San Mateo and Palo Alto, and that once it receives them from the state it plans to hold tasting events at those stores as well.

Mollie Stones has a number of  upcoming tastings planned. Some of the adult beverages a spokesperson for the grocer tells us will be sampled include wines from Ghost Pines, Edna Valley, Frei Brothers, Barefoot Bubbly, Red Rock and Dancing Bull. The grocer is also planning some upcoming spirits tastings, including having a mixologist create cocktails using Ketel One Vodka and Limoncello di Sonoma. Limocello is a popular Italian distilled spirit that's been catching on in the U.S. over the last few years.

The new supermarket tasting law is particularly advantages for grocers that operate small-format stores, like Tesco does with its Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market chain. The Fresh & Easy stores average about 10,000 square-feet of selling space.

Were it not for the loosening of the regulations under AB 605, a small-store chain like Tesco's Fresh & Easy would be extremely hard-pressed to even justify dedicating a couple hundred square-feet for the tastings on a permanent basis. It needs every square-foot it can get for merchandise.

More on the new law

The new law is also particularly advantageous for upscale and foodie- format-oriented food retailers, like Whole Foods, Bristol Farms and Mollie Stone's, for example, that do a lot of specialty and gourmet food sampling in-store. Now, for example, under the new alcohol beverage tasting law in California the grocers can offer wine and food pairing-type demonstrations, as long as the sampling takes place in the temporarily designated area required by the law.

The law has a number of requirements that retailers must follow in order to hold the alcohol beverage tastings in-store.

In order to qualify for the tasting license, retailers must already have an off-sale beer and wine permit, to do beer and wine tastings, and an alcohol beverage license, if they also want to conduct spirits tastings.

Then retailers must apply for and be granted a license from the state Alcohol Beverage Control Board, like Fresh & Easy is doing for the store in San Jose.

Retailers must pay a $300 application fee and $261 annual renewal fee for a state license to hold the tastings, which can only be conducted by alcohol beverage manufacturers or wholesalers. Significantly, store employees are prohibited from conducting the tastings, as are any other employees of the retailer holding the event.

Of additional significance, cities and counties have the right to restrict the alcohol beverage tasting events under the state law. That means retailers must follow any and all local regulations that may be in place in addition to the state law.

There are also a number of restrictions on how the tastings can be conducted in-store.

For example, participants must be 21-years-old or older, and it's the retailer's responsibility to verify that they're of legal age, even though the alcohol beverage manufacturer or distributor is conducting the tasting.

Only one type of alcoholic beverage can be offered per tasting event - either beer, wine or distilled spirits. But there can be no multiple combinations. Tequila shot with beer-chaser tastings are prohibited, for example.

The alcoholic beverages sampled at the events must be given free to the participants.

The free tastings cannot occur before 10 a.m. or after 9 p.m.The manufacturer or distributor representatives conducting the tastings are allowed by law to serve a person no more than 8 ounces of free beer in a day, which is 4 ounces less than a standard 12-ounce can; and up to three samplings of wine or distilled spirits, at maximums of 1 ounce and a quarter-ounce per sampling, respectively.

If tasters ask more alcohol they the law allows to be offered at the tastings the manufacturer or distributor conducting the tasting is instructed to explain the legal limits to them. If they persist, the retailer can ask them to leave the event and the store.

Fresh & Easy

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market sells beer and wine in all but two of its stores in California. The grocer offers distilled spirits (hard liquor) in a number of its stores in California but not in the majority of the 134 units.

The Fresh & Easy store in San Jose's Willow Glen neighborhood has been one of the grocery chain's top-three sales performing stores, out of the 15 units opened so far this year in Northern California, since it opened on March 2, according to our sources.

The store, along with the unit in Danville, were the first two Fresh & Easy stores Tesco opened in Northern California.

The wine category is a major focus for Tesco with the Fresh & Easy stores; more so than beer or distilled spirits. Therefore, it's our analysis that wine tastings will comprise the majority of alcohol beverage testing events held at the store on Bird Avenue in San Jose, although not exclusively, as we expect some beer tasting to go on as well.