Challenges & Opportunities: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Will Supply its Northern CA Stores From its Riverside County DC in Southern CA

The Insider: Heard on the Street

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market plans to supply it's Northern California stores from its 850 square-foot distribution center in Southern California's Riverside County rather than start up and operate its facility in Stockton, California, which it obtained in 2008, until it achieves a store-count and level of sales volume which makes doing so economically feasible.

Fresh & Easy Buzz has estimated it will cost Tesco $25 million -to- $30 million to make the Stockton distribution center fully operational.

Further, in order to be self-distributing out of Stockton for its Northern California division, it's my analysis Fresh & Easy needs annualized sales of at least $200 million in the region, from a economies-of-scale standpoint. That's the annual sales volume to begin the self-distribution from the facility. But not to make the distribution center operationally efficient. Tesco reported overall sales of $544 million for its fiscal year 2009/10, which ended in February 2010. My estimate is the chain is currently doing slightly under $600 million in annualized sales. [See - April 20, 2010: Strong Group Revenue & Profit For Tesco... But $253 Million Loss at Fresh & Easy]

Tesco announced on August 19 it plans to open its first eight Fresh & Easy units in Northern California in "early 2001." [See - August 19, 2010 story: Tesco Will Open its First Eight Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores in Northern California in 'Early 2011.' and our August 21, 2010 piece: April 2010 Prediction Correct: February 2011 Target to Open First Eight Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores in Northern California for details.]

That Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market plans to supply the Northern California stores out of its Southern California distribution center comes as no surprise to Fresh & Easy Buzz or 'The Insider.' We've suggested in the blog and on our @FreshNEasyBuzz Twitter feed it's something the grocer should consider doing.

Long-distance distribution

Tesco's Fresh & Easy will have to take some special steps in order to supply the stores in the northern region of California out of its Riverside County facility, however.

For example, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) requires (by law) that truck drivers can only drive for a straight eight-hour period, and then must stop and lay off for eight hours. It's about 450 miles - at least an eight hour trip and often longer, particularly in winter when it snows on the "Grapevine" over Interstate 5 - from Fresh & Easy's Riverside County distribution facility to the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento/Vacaville regions (a little less to Modesto and Stockton in the Northern Central Valley, but not much), where the majority of the planned Northern California Fresh & Easy stores are located. This means a single driver can't make the trip from the Riverside County facility and deliver to the stores in Northern California.

Because of this factor, Fresh & Easy will either have to use a driver team - starting with two drivers, one pilots the rig from Riverside County to say Stockton, then the other driver takes over to make the deliveries to the stores - or have a single driver start out from Southern California, bring the load to say Stockton (or elsewhere), then have a second driver waiting at the Stockton facility yard to take over to make the deliveries to the stores. Since Tesco is paying for the Stockton facility, it could use it as a transfer depot under scenario number two above.

There is precedent for grocers and distributors supplying stores in Northern California from Southern California. For example, Kroger Co.'s Ralphs supplies its Foods Co stores in Northern California out of a southern distribution facility.

And even better case study vis-a-vis Tesco's Fresh & Easy is WinCo Foods. Idaho-based WinCo Foods operates 12 huge discount food and grocery stores in Southern California. (The grocer's stores average 90,000 -to- 100,000 square-feet. One WinCo store is a big as 10 Fresh & Easy markets.) Six of the 12 Southern California WinCo markets are in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Riverside County is where the Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market distribution center is located.

WinCo Foods distributes to its Southern California stores from its Northern California distribution center in Modesto, which is where one of the first eight Fresh & Easy stores in the north state will open in early 2011. Modesto is 30 miles from Stockton, where the Northern California Fresh & Easy facility is located.

In addition to the two self-distributing retailers detailed above, two natural foods wholesalers, Nature's Best and Tree of Life, supply supermarkets and natural foods stores in Northern California from facilities located in Southern California, and have been doing so for many years. Tree of Life distributes fill-in (what Safeway Stores, Inc. doesn't procure direct) natural, organic, and specialty foods products to the 200-plus Safeway supermarkets in Northern California out of its Southern California distribution center near Los Angeles, as well as to some natural foods stores and independent grocers. Nature's best services numerous high-volume natural foods stores in Northern California, along with independent supermarkets, out of its Southern California headquarters and distribution facility. It's been doing so for decades.

Challenges

Supplying stores in Northern California from Southern California isn't without it challenges however, particularly for a self-distributing retailer like Fresh & Easy. Keep in mind Tree of Life (now owned by Kehe Food Distributors) and Natures Best are wholesalers. As long as they fulfill a retail customer's order and get it there when they say they will, they have done their job. Out-of-stocks thus aren't the wholesaler's problem, unless it's due to problems in its procurement and order-filling systems.

The chief difficulty for Fresh & Easy will be order lead time. For example, for a store in Northern California to get a grocery delivery from Southern California on a Monday morning, the ordering process, even with continuous replenishment which Fresh & Easy uses, has to be made and processed earlier than normal in order to allow for the at least eight hours it takes for a truck to get from Riverside County to Stockton or another nearby city in the north.

Let's say the San Francisco or Pacifica stores in the Bay Area (two of the first eight to open in early 2011) are to get Monday morning deliveries, which is key in order to replenish after the weekend. That means the truck with those store's orders must leave Fresh & Easy's Riverside County distribution center at about 9 pm on Sunday night.

Further, let's say the truck has two drivers. Driver one starts out from Riverside County. Eight hours later - at 5 am Monday - he arrives in Stockton. His eight hours are up. Driver two takes over to make the deliveries, first to the San Francisco store (arriving around 7 am), which is about two hours from Stockton in commute traffic, then goes on to Pacifica (about 30-40 minutes from the San Francisco store) and any other stores on the route. Remember, driver two has only eight hours to make the deliveries.

Since the truck must leave the Riverside County distribution center at around 9 pm on Sunday night to make the Monday morning deliveries in Northern California, the orders must be picked early on Sunday, which means they must be processed a considerable time before that.

What's even more of a challenge though in distributing from south-to-north are shorts and out-of-stocks. For example, let's say on that Monday delivery scenario above, ten percent of the items ordered are shorted by the Riverside County distribution center. Some were out-of-stock, others were picking mistakes, and a few just didn't get put on the truck. It happens all the time. Normally, with a local distribution center, stores could get many of those items the next day. However, because of the time lag distributing south-to-north, it's much more difficult to solve these types of shortages in 24 hours or less.

The south-to-north distribution will be particularly challenging for Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market in its fresh-prepared foods category. The items have a short shelf-life, which means the added delivery time will create the potential for more shrinkage at store-level than if the products were being distributed to the Northern California stores out of Stockton. And of course, combination refrigerated-dry grocery trailors will have to be used to deliver the products from the south to Northern California, which Fresh & Easy already uses.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy does have a track record in long distance distribution in that it distributes to its 27 stores in Metro Las Vegas, Nevada and 34 stores Metro Phoenix, Arizona out of the Riverside County facility in Southern California. Its about 250 miles from Riverside County to Metro Las Vegas and about 325 miles from the Riverside distribution center to Metro Phoenix. The distance to the Northern California stores however is nearly twice that to Metro Las Vegas, and at least 100 miles farther than to Metro Phoenix. As such, it presents more of a challenge to the grocer than it's experienced to date in terms of long distance distribution.

Fresh-prepared foods category

The category that presents the greatest challenge to Fresh & Easy in supplying the Northern California stores from Southern California is fresh-prepared foods, which comprise a significant number of the about 5,000 SKUs the Fresh & Easy stores stock. The refrigerated ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat food items also are a centerpiece of the chain's offering and merchandising.

Fresh & Easy already has a significant shrink problem in its fresh-prepared foods category, which is why it marks the items down by as much as 50% each day in its stores. They have short code dates and sales have been less than the grocer anticipated.

The added time required to distribute product from the south to the north means Fresh & Easy will have to be extremely diligent in how it orders the products for the stores because it will have to estimate the quantities somewhat in order to allow for the needed lead time in order processing, order picking and loading on the trucks at the Riverside distribution center, the eight-plus hour drive from the facility to Northern California, and the added hours delivering the items to the stores. In other words, the order-to-delivery cycle becomes shorter because of the long distance distribution system. Therefore, the grocer will have to tweak its replenishment system to operate in a more anticipatory way than it does for its 98 stores in Southern California in particular, and to a lessor but significant degree than it does for southern Nevada and Arizona.
If too much is ordered, that means more 50% markdowns and more shrink, throwing away what doesn't sell. If too little is ordered, that means out-of-stocks and lost sales.

Fresh foods kitchen-only option down the road

One thing Fresh & Easy could do as it gets a few dozen stores open is to set up a fresh-prepared foods kitchen at its Stockton distribution center in Northern California but continue to distribute all other categories out of Riverside. This would allow for better distribution to the stores, including decreased shrink and potential out-of-stocks, of the highly-perishable refrigerated ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat foods, while at the same time saving the expense of setting up and running a full distribution facility in the north.

'The Insider' wouldn't even think about operating a full Northern California distribution center (all categories) until there were about 100 Northern California stores up and running, with more in the pipeline. (I would hope the 100 stores would at least equal the $200 million in sales volume I mentioned at the top of my column.) At the point if the volume isn't sufficient, then it means the stores aren't doing well enough in general. Therefore, the problem is far greater than logistics and distribution.

Economies-of-scale & 0pportunities

A south-north distribution strategy makes the best sense for Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market for the near-to-medium term.

The economies of scale in setting up and operating a full distribution center at the Stockton facility for a handful of stores, with unproven sales, doesn't pan out. Remember, Tesco had planned to launch Fresh & Easy into Northern California by early 2009, having about 100 stores open by now in the region. Instead, I expect it to have in the range of 25 -to- 40 stores open in Northern California by the end of 2011. The rate of store openings is still being discussed at Tesco's Fresh & Easy. The Stockton facility was acquired and planned predicated on that 2007-2008 strategy.

Using two drivers - a tag team starting at Riverside or a hand-off scenario in Stockton or elsewhere in Northern California - will be more expensive than using one driver, obviously. But it will be far less costly than fully-setting up and operating the Stockton distribution center.

Additionally, with 159 stores currently, and annual sales volume of about $600 million in my estimation, Tesco's Fresh & Easy distribution center in Riverside County is nowhere near where it needs to be for optimum operating efficiencies. Therefore, distributing the Northern California sales volume out of the facility will help toward increasing its overall volume, getting closer to those efficiency goals.

The challenges of distributing from the south to the north though will be real ones for Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market. The grocer still has far too many out-of-stocks in many of its stores than it should, although its improved considerably from 2009, when it was very bad.

But taking all of the variables into consideration, I would do what Tesco's Fresh & Easy plans to do, distribute to the Northern California stores for the near-to-medium term out of the existing Riverside County facility. The one caveat being that I would start looking into setting up and operating a fresh-prepared foods kitchen-only at the Stockton facility for down the road.

Recent columns by 'The Insider'

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

~July 13, 2010: A Few Words on The Life and Death of Veteran Southern California Grocer Roger K. Hughes

~June 27, 2010: The Insider: Will Tesco Acquire Supervalu, Inc. and Change its 'Fresh & Easy' Game in America?

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

~May 20, 2010: Welcome to Discountopia USA

~April 29, 2010: Heard on the Street: There's Something About Albertsons ... In Southern California

[Fresh & Easy Buzz Editor's Note: Below are the stories thus far in our Northern California Market Special Report Series.] [Photo credit: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.]

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

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

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

Competitor News: Wal-Mart Clears First Major Hurdle For Proposed Mega-Distribution Center in Merced, CA; Chain's Regional Strategy Moving Forward

Regional Market Report: California's Central Valley & Northern California

In this April 18, 2009 story [Competitor News: Wal-Mart Close to Clearing First Major Hurdle For its 1.1 Million Square-Foot Regional Distribution Center in Merced, California] Fresh & Easy Buzz reported that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. was close to clearing its first major hurdle towards its plans to build a mega-1.1 million square-foot regional distribution center in Merced, California, in the Golden State's Northern Central Valley region.

That initial hurdle has now been cleared by Wal-Mart: On April 27 a 90-day public comment period in which area residents could comment by letter pro or con to the City of Merced Planning Department about the proposed project's potential environmental and other impacts on the community and surrounding region ended.

As of the end of business on April 27 the City of Merced received 301 letters from area businesses, organizations and individuals regarding the planned 1.1 million square-foot Wal-Mart distribution center project, according to the city's planning department.

Next phase for Wal-Mart

The next phase of the now-ended public comment period has started.

That phase requires Wal-Mart's contract planning firm for the project, EDAW, to respond in writing to each of the 301 letters received by the CIty of Merced.

The 301 letters are a mix of comments in favor of and opposed to the proposed 1.1 million square-foot Merced Wal-Mart distribution center, according to the planning department. When we published our earlier story on April 18 there were about 50 letters submitted at that time, with the number of letters in favor of the project far exceeding the quantity of letters in opposition, according to the city's planning department.

Once the EDAW planning firm responds to all of the letters, the City of Merced Planning Commission will hold public hearings on the proposed project.

Those hearings could come soon, or much later, depending on how fast the planning firm responds to the letters, a process Wal-Mart is required to follow by law.

The hearings will include public input, allowing members of the public for and against the huge distribution center project to voice their opinions.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. has said it wants to break ground on the 1.1 million square foot distribution facility starting in early 2010.

The project, which Wal-Mart proposed in 2005, is to be built on 230 acres at Childs and Gerard avenues in southeast Merced, according to plans filed with the City of Merced Planning Department.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. says it estimates the distribution center will take about 18 months to complete.

If the planned mega-distribution center is ultimately approved by the planning commission, it then goes before the Merced City Council for discussion and debate -- and an eventual vote. In California, planning commissions, which are comprised of members appointed by the city council, only give advisory approval to projects. Elected officials must ultimately approve such projects.

Merced residents and others for and against the distribution center project also get a chance to voice their respective opinions at a public Merced City Council meeting before the elected officials vote on the project's approval or denial, according to the city.

Organized support and opposition groups

As we wrote about in our April 18, 2009 story, there are organized groups in favor of and against the proposed 1.1 million square-foot Wal-Mart distribution center project in Merced.

Leading the opposition to the proposed distribution center is a local organization called "Merced SWAT" (Stop Wal-Mart Action Team). You can read about the group's opposition to the project at its Web site here.

Another local group, the "Merced Alliance for Responsible Growth," also opposses the planned Wal-Mart distribution facility. There's overlap between this group and "Merced SWAT."

Two national anti-Wal-Mart groups have also joined the local organization, "Merced SWAT," in opposition to the proposed Merced Wal-Mart distribution center.

One of the two organizations is the well-know Wal-Mart watchdog group "Wal-Mart Watch." You can read what the group is saying about the proposed project at its Web site here.

The second national anti-Wal-Mart organization allied with the local Merced group is called "WARN" (Wal-Mart Alliance for Reform Now). The group says it's collaborating with "Merced SWAT" to oppose the 1.1 million square foot Wal-Mart distribution center project in Merced. Read what WARN has to say at its Web site here.

The proposed distribution facility project also has strong support in Merced however.

For example, a majority of the City Council has indicated it's in favor of the distribution center, which Wal-Mart says will bring 1,200 full-time jobs to Merced. The retailer says the facility will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Additionally, most of the city's and Merced County's business leaders are in favor of the project.

And informal polls of residents have shown widespread support for bringing the disctribution center and the estimated 1,200 new jobs to the city.

Lastly, a pro-distribution center organization called the "Merced County Jobs Coalitio"n is heading up support and lobbying efforts among proponents of the proposed 1.1 million square-foot Wal-Mart Merced distribution center.

Tough economic climate, high unemployment

Merced County, of which Merced is the county seat, currently has a whopping 20% unemployment rate, one of he highest in California. By comparison, California's overall joblessness rate is about 11.4%, and the current U.S. unemployment rate is just under 9%.

Additionally, Merced County, which up until about mid-2007 was one of the fastest-growing counties in California, has since early 2008 been one of the top-five counties in the U.S. in terms of having the highest per-capita housing foreclosure rates in the United States month after month. And its often been number one or two during this period, including just last month when it was the leading U.S. county in housing foreclosures, according to a number of firm's that track monthly foreclosures by county.

Local development watchers in Merced have told us in the recent past that they believe the planned Wal-Mart distribution center project will ultimately be approved by the City Council because new jobs are so desperately needed in the city and county.

However, it's important to note that since the April 27 public comment period on the project ended, the opposition groups have been gearing up considerably, including in the case of "Merced SWAT" recently hiring a Sacramento, California-based land-use lawyer to assist it in fighting the project, along with getting more aggressive with its public relations efforts.

Of course such opposition isn't anything new for Wal-Mart, particularly in California where it has had other distribution center proposals, along with numerous proposed mega-Supecenter stores, killed by opposition groups , cities and counties.

As a result, Wal-Mart is working closely with the City of Merced and with its allies in the city regarding its efforts to gain approval for the proposed 1.1 million square-foot facility. Supporters are touting the 1,200 new jobs and Wal-Mart is promising to spend additional monies in the city, buying supplies for the distribution center from local businesses and donating to a wide variety of groups and local organizations, as it does throughout the U.S.

There are three major retail grocery industry distribution facilities in Merced, so the proposed Wal-Mart facility would hardly be one of a kind if built, although it would be much larger than the existing three centers are.

Grocery wholesaler McClane Companies, which is owned by billionare Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate, has a large distribution center in Merced from which it distributes grocery products to convenience stores throughout California and other western states.

Pleasanton, California-based Safeway Stores, Inc. operates a private label manufacturing and distribution facility in the city.

And Modesto, California-based Save Mart supermarkets operates a fresh produce distribution center in Merced.

Strategic importance

The proposed 1.1 million square-foot distribution center is crucial to Wal-Mart's strategic plans to grow its store count and market share in Central and Northern California, particular in the food and grocery categories, in which it is only a minor player at present in the regions.

For example, read our story here - February 11, 2009: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Isn't the Only Food & Grocery Retailer With its Eyes on Bakersfield: Wal-Mart's Bakersfield Push and Central Valley, CA Strategy; and our piece here - September 15, 2008: Wal-Mart Expanding its Discount Store-to-Supercenter Conversion Program As Part of its Strategy to Grab Even More Food and Grocery Sales Market Share.

The Merced facility would distribute everything contained in a giant Wal-Mart Supercenter, including perishable and non-perishable food and grocery products.

Right now, the political odds-makers in Merced tell Fresh & Easy Buzz that their money is on the ultimate approval by the Merced City Council of the project in the city of about 80,000 residents. Merced County has a population of about 250,000.

First Lady in Merced today

And today is a big day for Merced.

First Lady Michelle Obama is set to make her first and only university commencement address this afternoon to about 500 graduates of the University of California at Merced, the University of California's newest campus, which opened in the city in 2005. The class graduating today is the first full graduating class since the school was opened four years ago.

Ironically, the graduating class lured the First Lady to speak at today's commencement by launching a student-initiated letter writing and video lobbying campaign directed at Mrs. Obama, which included sending her a special Valentine's Day invitation in February, which was an invitation she apparently couldn't resist.

Perhaps the proponents and opponents of the proposed Merced Wal-Mart distribution center project could learn something from the University of California at Merced class of 2009 when it comes to launching successful letter writing and lobbying campaigns? After all, out of the huge stack of 2009 commencement speech requests she received, the First Lady chose just one, UC Merced, where she will speak this afternoon.

The city and the campus are conducting a two-day weekend festival in conjunction with the First Lady's commencement speech. As many as 15,000 -to- 20,000 people are expected to attend the graduation ceremonies on campus. The four year-old campus currently enrolls about 3,000 students.

Those same Merced political odds-makers tell us that today and tomorrow the proposed Wal-Mart distribution center issue is taking second place as a topic of discussion among residents as the city gears up for and celebrates the First Lady's visit. But come Monday, local residents tell us the proposed distribution facility issue will be back front and center as the main topic of discussion around town and in the city's coffee shops and pubs.

The proposed Merced mega-Wal-Mart regional distribution center is a major topic of discussion among the region's grocers as well, as they know the facility means more Wal-Mart Supercenters and likely other Wal-Mart format food and grocery stores in the region. That's a competitive prospect most grocers aren't looking forward to.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy in the Central Valley

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighbohrood Market hopes to have a major impact on food and grocery retailing in California's Central Valley in the not too distant future.

Thus far, Tesco has three of its small-format, convenience-oriented Fresh & Easy combination grocery and fresh foods markets open in Bakersfield, which is in the southern Central Valley. The grocery chain plans to open at least six additional stores (four more in Bakersfield, one in Delano and one in Wasco) in Bakersfield and the surrounding region.

Fresh & Easy Buzz however is aware that at least two of the four additional Bakersfield Fresh & Easy stores have now been completed but are sitting empty and have yet to be opened by the grocery chain. Those two locations are at Brimhall & Jewetta and Hageman & Coffee in Bakersfield. The store in Delano also is completed but has yet to open. [February 11, 2009: Tesco to Open Third Bakersfield, California Fresh & Easy Store On February 25.]

Additionally, Tesco has at least 10 (seven in Fresno and three in nearby Clovis) Fresh & Easy markets slated for the Fresno Metropolitan region in the mid-Central Valley.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy hasn't opened any of the 10 Fresno-area Fresh & Easy stores despite the fact that some of the stores are completed and ready to open.

For example, the downtown Fresno Fresh & Easy market at Tulare and R Street, which we wrote about in this July 23, 2008 piece: [Fresno, California Fresh & Easy Grocery Store to Be First in Chain to Include Local, Community and Neighborhood Design Elements and Features] is completed but not yet opened.

Fresh & Easy has included the 10 Fresno stores as part of its indefinite postponement of its Northern California region launch, even though Fresno isn't technically in Northern California. Rather it's considered Central California. [See - November 12, 2008: Analysis: Hard Times at Fresh & Easy - Northern California Expansion to Be Postponed or Shelved Do to Economy; But its Only a Symptom Not the Cause. May 15, 2008: Fresh But Never Easy: Tesco's Long But Rapid South-North March in the Nation-State of California. May 6, 2009: Tesco Fresh & Easy Northern California Market Region Update ]

And in the Northern Central Valley, Tesco's Fresh & Easy thus far has three sites planned in Modesto, as we've previously reported. [See - March 31, 2009: Despite Having Postponed its Northern California Launch Indefinitely; Tesco's Fresh & Easy Planning Third Store in Modesto, California.]

But despite all these Central Valley sites, many of which contain completed Fresh & Easy markets, the grocer has to date only opened three stores in the vast region, all three in Bakersfield.

Merced is located between Fresno and Modesto. The city is about 45 miles from Fresno (to the south) and about 35 miles from Modesto (to the north).

Of course, it's hard to become a player in a market like the Central Valley if a grocer has stores completed but doesn't open them, as the Bakersfield and Fresno examples above indicate is the case for Tesco's Fresh & Easy.

Not opening a completed grocery store is seldom if ever done by U.S. food retailers. Having numerous empty store buildings that aren't producing sales or cash flow isn't considered to be prudent management in the food and grocery retailing industry, particularly for major chains.

For example, one would be hard-pressed to find a completed Wal-Mart store of any kind that doesn't have a definite opening date planned for it.

The same would be the case at Kroger, Costco, Safeway and virtually every other chain -- large or small -- we are aware of. It's just not an excepted practice. And most grocers rush to open a completed store rather than allow it to remain empty a day longer than they have to.

Linkage - Additional Related Stories:

>February 11, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Isn't the Only Food & Grocery Retailer With its Eyes on Bakersfield: Wal-Mart's Bakersfield Push and Central Valley, CA Strategy

>September 15, 2008: Wal-Mart Expanding its Discount Store-to-Supercenter Conversion Program As Part of its Strategy to Grab Even More Food and Grocery Sales Market Share

>December 29, 2008: Competitor News: Winco Foods to Expand in California and Nevada in 2009; Put Aggressive Focus on Central Valley, Northern California and Northern Nevada

>December 3, 2009: Tesco Opens its First Two California Fresh & Easy Stores Outside of Southern California in the Central Valley City of Bakersfield Today.]

>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

>March 31, 2009: Despite Having Postponed its Northern California Launch Indefinitely; Tesco's Fresh & Easy Planning Third Store in Modesto, California

>November 12, 2008: Analysis: Hard Times at Fresh & Easy - Northern California Expansion to Be Postponed or Shelved Do to Economy; But its Only a Symptom Not the Cause

>July 23, 2008: Fresno, California Fresh & Easy Grocery Store to Be First in Chain to Include Local, Community and Neighborhood Design Elements and Features

>May 14, 2008: Fresh & Easy Buzz Exclusive: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Plans to Open Five Stores In the Fresno, California Metropolitan Region

>May 15, 2008: Fresh But Never Easy: Tesco's Long But Rapid South-North March in the Nation-State of California

>November 20, 2008: Analysis & Commentary: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market and Tesco's Lowered Expectations

>September 29, 2008: Special Report: Wal-Mart, Inc. Studying Second Small-Format Food and Grocery Store Concept; the 'Bodega' or Modern Version of the Corner Grocery Store

>August 8, 2008: Analysis & Commentary: Wal-Mart's Marketside As Part Of it's Multi-Format Category-Killer Strategy Spells Trouble For Tesco's Fresh & Easy

[Follow Fresh & Easy Buzz around on Twitter.com at www.twitter.com/freshneasybuzz.]

Competitor News: Wal-Mart Close to Clearing First Major Hurdle For its 1.1 Million Square-Foot Regional Distribution Center in Merced, California

Upcoming New Markets Special Report: Northern California - Central Valley

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. is close to clearing its first major hurdle towards gaining approval to break ground on its proposed mega-1.1 million square-foot regional distribution center in Merced, California, which is located in the Northern Central Valley in California.

In late February of this year, Wal-Mart released its Environmental Impact Report (EIR) on the proposed Merced distribution center. The EIR was prepared for Wal-Mart by an outside consulting firm that specializes in land planning and development projects like the facility.

The report is currently in what's called the public comments phase. This is a 60-day period required by law for such projects.

Residents, businesses and organizations have until April 27 to submit letters, pro or con, to the city of Merced planning department regarding the distribution center and its potential environmental and related (traffic, ect.) impacts on the City of Merced, Merced County, and the surrounding region.

Once all the comment letters are in, Wal-Mart's contracted planning firm is then required by law to reply to each letter. That could take a matter of weeks, or months, depending on how many letters are received by the city of Merced by April 27.

The City of Merced's Site Plan Review Committee will be holding a public meeting regarding the proposed Wal-Mart distribution center on Thursday, April 23, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at the Merced Civic Center at 678 W. 18th St, Merced. The Site Plan Review Committee is a staff committee comprised of the city's director of development services, the chief building official, and the city engineer.

According to the city, The only action being considered by the Site Plan Review Committee on April 23 is whether to refer the Site Plan Review Application to the Merced Planning Commission for a public hearing.

The committee will not be reviewing the Wal-Mart distribution center project itself or the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) at the meeting.

Wal-Mart plans to break ground on its proposed 1.1 million square-foot distribution center, assuming it gains approval by the city of Merced, in early 2010.

Plans call for the Merced distribution center, which is key to Wal-Mart's Northern and Central California growth strategy as we wrote about previously in this February 11, 2009 news and analysis piece [Tesco's Fresh & Easy Isn't the Only Food & Grocery Retailer With its Eyes on Bakersfield: Wal-Mart's Bakersfield Push and Central Valley, CA Strategy], to operate 24-hours a day, seven days a week.

The proposed regional distribution center -- which will distribute everything sold in a Wal-Mart Supercenter, which includes food and groceries (and clothing, electronics, furniture and much more) -- will likely serve all of Northern California, the vast Central Valley, and into Southern California. It also likely will serve Wal-Mart stores in nearby states if needed.

Wal-Mart says the planned 1.1 million square-foot Merced facility will employ about 1,200 full-time workers.

There are organized groups both for and against the proposed Wal-Mart distribution center in Merced.

The pro-Wal-Mart distribution center group is called the Merced County Jobs Coalition. The group against the distribution center calls itself the Stop Wal-Mart Action Team.

Tough economic times in Merced

Merced County, which the city of Merced is the county seat of, along with being its largest city (about 80,000 population), has one of the highest unemployment rates in California.

Figures just released by the government for March show Merced County's jobless rate at a whopping 20.4%. Next door Stanislaus County isn't fairing much better. It's March 2009 unemployment rate was at 17.5%

Just three counties in California had March unemployment rate percentages higher than Merced County did. Those three counties are: Colusa County, north of Sacramento (25.7%); Imperial County, near San Diego in the southern part of the state on the Mexican border (25.1%); and Trinity County (21.9%), in far Northern California.

Considering that at the height of America's Great Depression in the 1930's the national unemployment rate was about 35%, the current unemployment numbers for these four California counties are rather ominous.

California's unemployment rate for March 2009 was 11.2%, making it the fourth-highest jobless rate in the U.S. Only Michigan, Oregon and South Carolina had higer unemployment rates than California for March, according to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, April 17.

Merced County also has been one of the top three (and frequently number one) U.S. counties in terms of having the highest rates of housing foreclosures for nearly the last two years, according to data published each month by the real estate industry research firm RealtyTrac.

Despite economy there are numerous positives in Merced

Despite experiencing severe economic problems, there are numerous positive things happening in the city of Merced, which is located about 50 miles from Fresno and about 35 miles from Modesto (Stanislaus County), where as we've previously reported Tesco's Fresh & Easy neighborhood Market has plans thus far to open three of its small-format grocery and fresh foods markets. [Read our most recent story - March 31, 2009: Despite Having Postponed its Northern California Launch Indefinitely; Tesco's Fresh & Easy Planning Third Store in Modesto, California.]

The two counties -- Merced and Stanislaus -- are located right next to each other. Many of the cities in each county share borders with one another. If creating counties was a geographical rather than a political process in the U.S., the two counties would logically be one, from the perspective of geographic proximity. Stanislaus County has a population of about 530,000, making the combined population of the "twin" counties nearly 800,000.

Some of the positive happenings in Merced, despite the economic problems, include the city being the home of the newest campus of the University of California.

That University of California at Merced campus opened in 2005 and is growing in student numbers, new buildings and facilities development, and programs each year.

There hasn't been a new, planned major research university built in the U.S. other than UC Merced in many years. And until opening UC Merced, the University of California system, the largest state system of its kind in the U. S., hadn't opened a new campus since the 1960's, when it opened the University of California at Santa Cruz, in Santa Cruz, California, on the Northern California coast. Getting such a campus is a big deal for Merced, or for any California city for that matter.

The campus is getting much publicity at present because First Lady Michelle Obama is going to be the commencement speaker for the graduating class of 2009 in May. The city is going all out for the event, holding a huge "Town & Gown" festival in its downtown, along with other related activities in partnership with the University.

Downtown Merced is another overall positive for the city. Compared to the downtown areas of many similar-size and larger cities, Merced's is attractive and functional, despite some retail store and other business closings, resulting in some empty buildings, due to the recession.

But accept for the relative few vacant buildings, when walking around the downtown, which is rather vibrant, it's hard to believe the city has a 20.4% unemployment rate and is sufering from the recession in a major way. Although when talking to residents you can feel it in no time flat. Many people are seriously hurting, as local jobs are extremely scarce.

And of course, depending on which side of the issue you are on, a new 1.1 million square-foot Wal-Mart distribution center, which comes with 1,200 new full-time jobs, could be a very positive upcoming development for Merced, particularly with its current (and growing) 20.4% unemployment rate.

We think the long term prospects for business, including food and grocery retailing, is good in Merced, due largely to the establishment of the University of California campus in the city, which is slated to become a major research as well as teaching campus, just like all of the other UC campuses.

UC campuses historically spin off all sorts of private sector businesses. Berkeley helped create Silicon Valley and the Bay Area's biotech business sector. Davis virtually is the California agricultural and wine industry's in-house research arm. Scores of its graduates have gone on to start their own farms, food companies and wineries. Some of the most promising work in electric car technology also has and is coming out of the Davis campus. There are similar examples from every UC campus.

And already less than four year old UC Merced is conducting major research in alternative energy technology, biomedical research and in other scientific fields. There's a move on to build a medical school on the campus. And plans already are set to open a graduate school of management in the next couple years.

There's not one California city -- Berkeley, Davis, Los Angeles, San Diego, Irvine, Riverside and the others -- where a University of California campus has been put, and allowed to grow over a number of years, that hasn't benefited dramatically from the University's presence.

For example, the city of Berkeley in the San Francisco Bay Area was literally built around the University of California at Berkeley campus, the system's oldest and its flagship campus. Today (and for many years prior) UC Berkeley is one of the top research and teaching institutions in the world, and number one, two or three globally in a number of academic and professional areas.

In Southern California, the hip community of Westwood, full of housing, shops and other commercial activity, was built and became what it is today because of the existence of the UCLA campus in Westwood, which is the centerpiece of the entire community.

And back in Northern California, the city of Davis, California, home to the University of California at Davis, which started out as an agricultural campus but today is one of the top-ranked Multi-University's in the world, has and continues to serve as the hub of what has grown from a sleepy little city of a couple thousand residents -- Davis -- to what is considered one of the most innovative and livable cities in America, with a population of about 70,000. Davis is located 12 miles from Sacramento.

It will take a number of years, but Merced, like all of the other University of California cities, will benefit in enormous ways from being home to the University of California system's newest campus, and the only planned major research University that has been built in the U.S. in a couple decades.

City of Merced: Letters mostly pro-distribution center so far

According to the city of Merced, the letters coming into its planning department so far are currently mostly in favor of the Wal-Mart distribution center. A city spokesperson says the letters are currently running at a ratio of about nine-to-one in favor of approval of the mega-distribution center in the city.

It appears it's all about jobs, which isn't a surprise with a county unemployment rate of 20.4%, which residents in the city and county tell us they expect will continue to climb over the next few months.

Distribution center: Next steps

Once Wal-Mart's consulting firm responds to all of the letters submitted by the April 27 deadline, the city of Merced's Planning Commission will then begin hearings on the distribution center plan.

Once they've completed the hearings, the project then goes to the Merced City Council for a vote of approval or rejection.

it's all about jobs

We're told that a majority of the members of the Merced City Council support the Wal-Mart distribution center being built. According to local sources not one of the members has to date come out publicly against the project.

it's all about jobs.

There are of course other things that could happen between now and the end of the year regarding the project, such as lawsuits being filed by environmental groups, which happens often whenever Wal-Mart proposes to build its mega-Supercenters in parts of the U.S. and particularly in California. But that's changing. Many communities that didn't want a Wal-Mart Supercenter a few years ago are asking the retailer to come to town in this bad economy.

It's all about jobs.

But our sense is, based on talking to local residents in Merced, which we did this week while traveling in the Central Valley, that the vast majority of citizens and elected officials in the city and County want and need new jobs so bad that local supporters will fight any opposition by outside environmental or other groups attempting to block the 1.1 million square-foot Wal-Mart distribution center from being built in Merced. Two years ago, when the city and county were booming, it might have been a very different story. But all that has changed.

It's all about jobs.

Based on its desire to break ground on the distribution center in early 2010, Wal-Mart's objective is to get the facility's plan approved no later than by the end of this summer. A Wal-Mart source told us that based on what it is hearing at present, approval could happen far by then or earlier.

Local officials we talked to in Merced this week expressed similar feelings. We observed numerous people in the city's attractive downtown district wearing pro-Wal-Mart distribution center buttons, for example.

The general buzz we felt in town was in favor of the development. And the general reason for that we felt was that its all about jobs.

[If interested, you can download the complete Wal-Mart-Merced, California regional distribution center Environmental Impact Technical Report -- it's a whopper -- along with related documents and information on the project at the link here.]

Selected Related stories from Fresh & Easy Buzz:

>February 11, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Isn't the Only Food & Grocery Retailer With its Eyes on Bakersfield: Wal-Mart's Bakersfield Push and Central Valley, CA Strategy

>September 15, 2008: September 15, 2008: Wal-Mart Expanding its Discount Store-to-Supercenter Conversion Program As Part of its Strategy to Grab Even More Food and Grocery Sales Market Share

> December 29, 2008: Competitor News: Winco Foods to Expand in California and Nevada in 2009; Put Aggressive Focus on Central Valley, Northern California and Northern Nevada

>December 3, 2009: December 3, 2008: Tesco Opens its First Two California Fresh & Easy Stores Outside of Southern California in the Central Valley City of Bakersfield Today.]

>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

>March 31, 2009: Despite Having Postponed its Northern California Launch Indefinitely; Tesco's Fresh & Easy Planning Third Store in Modesto, California

>November 12, 2008: Analysis: Hard Times at Fresh & Easy - Northern California Expansion to Be Postponed or Shelved Do to Economy; But its Only a Symptom Not the Cause

>May 14, 2008: Fresh & Easy Buzz Exclusive: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Plans to Open Five Stores In the Fresno, California Metropolitan Region

>May 15, 2008: Fresh But Never Easy: Tesco's Long But Rapid South-North March in the Nation-State of California

>November 20, 2008: Analysis & Commentary: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market and Tesco's Lowered Expectations

>September 29, 2008: Special Report: Wal-Mart, Inc. Studying Second Small-Format Food and Grocery Store Concept; the 'Bodega' or Modern Version of the Corner Grocery Store

>August 8, 2008: Analysis & Commentary: Wal-Mart's Marketside As Part Of it's Multi-Format Category-Killer Strategy Spells Trouble For Tesco's Fresh & Easy

>April 14, 2008: New Multi-Supercenter and Multi-Format Strategies Are Showing Wal-Mart to Be A More Agile Grocery Retailer in the U.S.

>November 19, 2008: Competitor News: Wal-Mart Lowering Prices on Holiday Items and Staples; New Formats Coming; Online Grocery Sales; Hundreds of New Stores FY 2009-2010

[You can follow Fresh & Easy Buzz around on Twitter.com at www.twitter.com/freshneasybuzz.]

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Spokesman Confirms Our South-to-North Distribution Reports in Talk to Pacifica, California Group

Pictured above is the Fresh & Easy store in the Pedro Point shopping center in Pacifica, which is set top open on March 9, 2001. The photo was taken by a Fresh & Easy Buzz correspondent at the end of December 2010. See: December 27, 2010: First Look at the Pacifica, California Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store, One of the First Opening in Northern California in Early 2011. A considerable amount of work inside the store has been completed since the photo was taken.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy in Northern California - 2011

In an August 22, 2010 column, our 'The Insider' columnist reported that Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market would distribute product to its stores in Northern California, which it plans to start opening on March 2, 2011, from its distribution center in Riverside County, which is hundreds of miles away in Southern California. You can read the column at: Challenges & Opportunities: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Will Supply its Northern CA Stores From its Riverside County DC in Southern CA. Fresh & Easy Buzz has also reported the information in other stories in the blog.

This south-to-north distribution scenario is an option we suggested Tesco should consider in a couple analysis pieces in Fresh & Easy Buzz going as far back as 2008, when at the time the retailer's plans were to launch into Northern California in early 2009. Tesco postponed its launch of Fresh & Easy into Northern California until the first quarter of this year.

However, according to our sources, it was only recently, about spring/early summer 2010, that Tesco corporate director and Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Tim Mason decided to distribute to the Northern California stores out of the Southern California facility - which will be a challenging objective for Fresh & Easy to successfully achieve, in our analysis and experience - deciding not to outfit and open the distribution facility in Northern California until a later time.

To our knowledge (and we follow the grocer rather closely), El Segundo, (Southern) California-based Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has never publicly announced - and thus confirmed our report - that its plans to distribute to the Northern California stores from the Riverside County facility in Southern California, which is a long haul away.

For that matter, Tesco's Fresh & Easy has never publicly announced it has a Northern California distribution facility in Stockton, California, even though we reported on its existence over three years ago, and have verified with the City of Stockton that Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is listed as the owner or leaser of the Stockton site with the city. Other publications have also reported on the Stockton facility, which the grocer doesn't plan to open this year.

Report verified

However, 'The Insider's' August 2010 report has now been officially verified by Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's director of communications and corporate spokesman, Brendon Wonnacott.

Wonnocott was the invited speaker at the January 13, 2011 meeting of the Pedro Point Community Association in Pacifica, California. The group is comprised of residents who live in the neighborhood where Tesco's Fresh & Easy is on March 9, 2011 opening one of its first three fresh food and grocery stores in Northern California.

The first two Fresh & Easy stores in Northern California ar set to open on March 2, in San Jose and Danville. [See - January 17, 2011: First Look at the Willow Glen-San Jose Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store Set to Open March 2, 2011; and January 12, 2011: First Northern California Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Opening March 2; Nine More to Follow March-April.]

The Pacifica Fresh & Easy store is in the Pedro Point Shopping Center, at 5550 Coast Highway. [See - January 12, 2011: First Northern California Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Opening March 2; Nine More to Follow March-April; and December 27, 2010: First Look at the Pacifica, California Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store, One of the First Opening in Northern California in Early 2011.]

At a recent meeting of the Pedro Point Community Association in Pacifica, Wonnocott, in response to a question from one of the members of the audience, who asked where the Pacifica and other Northern California stores would get product from, answered that until a Northern California distribution center is created, the Pacifica store and others in Northern California will be supplied out of the distribution facility in Riverside County, Southern California.

Wonnacott spoke at the neighborhood group's Thursday, January 13, 2001 meeting. The leaders of the Pedro Point Community Association had requested earlier in the year that a representative of Tesco's Fresh & Easy address the group before the store opens on March 9.

Following a brief presentation at the Thursday evening meeting on January 13, Wonnacott then took questions from members of the audience, all of whom belong to the community group and live in the Pedro Point neighborhood, which also happens to be where Pacifica's mayor, Jim Vreeland resides. [See - July 21, 2010: Vacant Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store in Pacifica, California Has the City's Mayor in a Pickle.]

Meeting Q&A

Below is a summary of the questions asked by neighborhood residents and the answers given by Tesco Fresh & Easy spokesman Brendon Wonnocott:

Question: The area behind the shopping center is often used as a dump, and gets very messy. Will Fresh & Easy fix this?
Answer/Wonnocott: Yes.

Q: The parking lot is currently over-crowded, and when Fresh & Easy opens it will become even more crowded.
A: Fresh & Easy will look into this issue.

Q: Who will occupy the smaller retail units adjacent to F&E?
A: It's unknown by us at this time

Q: What will Fresh & Easy do about beach-goers parking in the shopping center lot?
A: It’s not clear how much of a problem this will be.

Q: Will there be on-premises dining at the Fresh & Easy store?
A: No.

Q: Will local vendors be featured in the store? Organic produce?
A: It varies. In summer, about 75% of produce is locally produced, much of it organic.

Q: Will excessive packaging result in more garbage at the beach?
A: The store will have prominent recycling bins for customer use.

Q: Can Fresh & Easy install extra trash cans around the shopping center?
A: Good idea. F&E will look into this.

Q: Why did Fresh & Easy choose Pacifica?
A: F&E executives take a bus tour of prospective neighborhoods, and Pacifica was one of their first choices. The store has good visibility, it is a pretty location.

Q: What is Fresh & Easy's relationship with the City of Pacifica?
A: F&E has hired a consultant whose job is to manage that interface.

Q: Is Fresh & Easy a subsidiary of a UK company.
A: Yes, F&E is a subsidiary of Tesco, but F&E is a U.S. company. It will not feature British goods.

Q: What will the (Pacifica) store's hours be?
A: 8 AM to 10 PM

Q: Will there be a fish market?
A: Yes, but it will not be large.
Note: Fresh & Easy stores feature some packaged fresh fish and seafood items in the store's self-service refrigerated meat cases.

Q: How big will the entire store be?
A: 10,000 square feet.

Q: When will deliveries be made? At night?
A: Don’t know yet, but F&E will be mindful of the sound of delivery trucks.

Q: How much alcohol will be available in the store?
A: About one aisle, beer and wine selected to accompany the food for sale.

Q: How much additional lighting will be in the parking lot?
A: F&E uses highly efficient LED lighting, and the light is directed downward.

Q: How will the Pacifica store be supplied?
A: Until a northern California distribution center is created, the store will be supplied from the Southern California distribution center in Riverside.

Q: Several F&E stores have been closed recently. Why?
A: The stores were in economically distressed neighborhoods that could not support them. There are plans to re-open these stores as the economy improves.

Issues of concern

The members of the neighborhood group are concerned chiefly about three issues involving the Fresh & Easy store opening in their neighborhood next month - noise, traffic congestion, increased litter and its abatement, and sales of alcoholic beverages.

The noise issue primarily involves deliveries to the store, while the traffic congestion concerns involve parking and other traffic issues in and around the Fresh & Easy stores.

The litter concern is something many of the neighborhood group's members say they want headed-off by Tesco's Fresh & Easy before it becomes an issue. Pacifica is a beach community that's extremely concerned with preventing litter, particularly single-use plastic grocery bags and food packaging, from getting onto its beaches and into the ocean. The coastline runs right along the Pedro Point neighborhood and near the Fresh & Easy store.

Coming full circle

The Pedro Point Community Association plans to keep a close eye on the store and these concerns once the Fresh & Easy market opens on March 9, its leaders tell Fresh & Easy Buzz.

We don't doubt what they tell us because it was in October of 2008 when the group first requested that a representative from Tesco's Fresh & Easy come speak to the community group, as we reported in a story on October 7, 2008: Fresh & Easy Corporate Reps to Meet With Pedro Point Pacifica, CA Neighborhood Residents to Address Concerns Over Store to Open in 2009.

At the time the Fresh & Easy corporate rep spoke to the group in October 2008, the retailer hadn't even announced it planned to open a store in the coastal city of Pacifica. In fact, members of the Pedro Point Community Association learned of the grocers plans by reading about the news in Fresh & Easy Buzz, in this June 24, 2008 story: Upcoming New Markets News: Tesco to Locate Yet Another Fresh & Easy Store in San Francisco Bay Area; 21 Thus Far By Fresh & Easy Buzz's Reporting, they told us. The neighborhood association's leaders contacted Tesco's Fresh & Easy shortly after our story appeared. They were able to get a representative of the chain to speak at their meeting in October 2008.

Over two years later, the group continues to follow Tesco's plans for the fresh food and grocery store set to open next month, on March 9, in their neighborhood. As such, Pacifica's Pedro Point Community Association appears to us to be the type of local and neighborhood group that a grocer like Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market should do all it can to get on its side.

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

Upcoming New Markets Special Report: Northern California

Despite postponing its Northern California launch once again earlier this year, and having not yet opened any of the numerous Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market store sites it's paying monthly lease payments on in Northern California, Tesco is planning a third store in San Francisco, California, Fresh & Easy Buzz has learned.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy has also signed a lease for what will be its first small-format grocery and fresh foods market in the Northern San Joaquin Valley city of Stockton, in Northern California. Stockton is located about 75 miles from San Francisco and about 30 miles from Modesto, where we've previously reported the grocery chain now has three Fresh & Easy stores planned.

San Francisco

The planned third San Francisco Fresh & Easy market will be located at 32nd and Clement Street in the City's Richmond District.

The two other planned Fresh & Easy store locations in San Francisco are at 5800 Third Street and Carrol Avenue in the low-income Bayview-Hunters Point Neighborhood, and at Silver Avenue and Goettingen Street, which is a mixed-use residential and commercial neighborhood in the city off of the 101 freeway.

The 5800 Third Street Fresh & Easy store is a new, built from the ground up store which will be the ground floor retail anchor to what is a multi-unit residential condominium building currently being constructed at the location.

The Silver Avenue Fresh & Easy market is planned to go into what is a now vacant building that previously housed a Cala Foods supermarket. Like many of its current 118 stores in California (Southern and Bakersfield), southern Nevada and Metro Phoeniz, Arizona, the Silver Avenue vacant, former supermarket building will be gutted and remodeled by Tesco and turned ino one of its small-format combination grocery and fresh foods markets.

Cala is (or more precisely was) owned by Kroger Co. Kroger Co., through its Ralphs supermarkets division based in Southern California, exited the Northern California market a few years ago, selling off or closing its about 50 Ralphs' banner supermarkets and about 25 Cala and Bell Market banner stores in the region.

All of the Cala and Bell banner stores were in the Bay Area, most in San Francisco or nearby cities. The Ralphs' stores were in the Bay Area and parts of the Central Valley and Sacramento region.

Kroger's Southern California-based Ralphs still operates a couple Cala-Bell stores in the Bay Area, which it is in the process of either selling or closing.

It also operates a couple of its FoodsCo banner discount warehouse stores in the region, including one in San Francisco's Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood, not far from where Tesco is putting its Third Street Fresh & Easy market in the condominium development. Kroger-Ralphs has no plans to close the FoodsCo warehouse format stores in the region.

San Francisco's Richmond District is a part of the city, along with the next door Sunset District, that collectively also are referred to as "The Avenues," because its numbered streets -- all avenues -- start in the low numbers and run all the way to the high-forties as the streets get closer to the ocean. The Richmond and Sunset neighborhoods end at San Francisco's Ocean Beach, which is the end of land in the city's western portion.

The Richmond and Sunset neighborhoods, both the flatest residential parts of the city, run alongside San Francisco's famed Golden Gate Park -- the park is in the middle, dividing the two neigborhoods, which are two of the largest residential neighborhoods in the city in terms of the numbers of housing units and resident population. San Francisco's population is about 850,000.

There currently are a couple Safeway supermarkets in the Richmond district, along with a couple independent supermarkets. Safeway has a large store right near Ocean Beach that serves residents of both the Richmond and Sunset neighborhoods because of its central location. The store does are very high weekly sales volume.

Safeway Stores, Inc., which is the market share leader in the Bay Area and in the city of San Francisco, is based in Pleasanton, in the eastern part of the region, about 30 miles from San Francisco.

The 32nd and Clement proposed future Fresh & Easy store site once was home to a supermarket. However that store has since closed.

Tesco is only beginning the permitting and approval process for the 32nd and Clement store. And in San Francisco that can be a detailed and long process in terms of gaining approval.

For example, on Wednesday evening, April 15, Mark Warden, a vice president for the Costa Mesa-based Bergman Companies' design and building firm, will be making a presentation to the members of the Planning Association for the Richmond, which is an influencial group comprised of neighborhood residents, Fresh & Easy Buzz has learned. The group's mission is to guide planning and development in its neighborhood.

The presentation is from 7 -to- 9 p.m. at the Richmond Recreation Center, 251 18th Avenue, San Francisco. The Bergman Companies' Warden, representing Tesco's Fresh & Easy, will detail the grocer's plans for the site, including the store's design and other details, according to a member of the neighborhood group, and a notice on the planning association's Web site.

In San Francisco gaining the approval of neighborhood associations -- there's one in nearly every neighborhood in what is a city comprised of many distinct neigborhoods --is crucial to gaining approval from the city to build a commercial project like a retail store.

Most neighborhood groups in San Francisco tend to favor local retail stores over chains, although that doesn't mean chain stores don't get approval in the city. It often depends on the neighborhood. A couple neighborhoods though actually no longer allow chain retail stores of any kind.

San Francisco neighborhood associations like the Richmond District group look not only at a retailer's proposed design for a store when evaluating a proposal -- it's size, physical design, energy use -- they also look at the retail company proposing the store -- it's ethical reputation, environmental policies, whether its union or non-union, for example -- in evaluating if they will support the development or not.

Neighborhood associations in San Francisco don't legally make the decisions as to whether or not retailers get the green light on new retail store proposals in the city -- city government does. But the groups are so influential that seldom does a project a neighborhood association is against get build in San Francisco. On the plus side, it's very seldom if ever the city refuses to approve a retail project supported by a neighborhood association.

This is a key reason that Tesco's Fresh & Easy is having its representative make a presentation to the Richmond District neighborhood planning group.

Other new Northern California developments

Modesto

Fresh & Easy Buzz reported in this March 31, 2009 piece [Despite Having Postponed its Northern California Launch Indefinitely; Tesco's Fresh & Easy Planning Third Store in Modesto, California] that Tesco is building its newest and what it plans to be its third Fresh & Easy Neighborhood market store in the Northern California city of Modesto.

Modesto, which has a population of about 205,000 residents, is located about 90 miles from San Francisco in the Northern San JoaquinValley. Modesto is about a 45 minute drive from the nearest Bay Area city, Livermore, which is located in the Easy Bay region.

Fresh & Easy Buzz has now learned from a commercial real estate source that Tesco is looking closely at a handful of potential sites in Modesto for a possible future fourth Fresh & Easy store location in the city. None of the Fresh & Easy stores have yet to open in Modesto, or anywhere in Northern California.

Tesco hasn't confirmed the three Fresh & Easy planned store sites in Modesto that we've reported on. However we've documented each location through various means, including physical observation of the site, through commercial real estate sources, and via the California Alcoholic Beverage Control Department, in the case of the two stores -- Sylvan Square and Oakdale Road --that Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has already applied for on sale beer and wine licenses for.

We agreed at the request of our source not to mention the potential sites Tesco's Fresh & Easy is looking at in Modesto for a possible fourth store at this point in time.

Stockton

Tesco's Fresh & Easy is also planning to build a store in Stockton, California, which like Modesto is located in the Northern San Joaquin Valley. Stockton is about 30 miles from Modesto, about 75 miles from San Francisco, and about a 30 -to- 40 minute drive from Livermore. This is the first future Fresh & Easy store site in Stockton we've been able to document.

The planned first Stockton Fresh & Easy market will be located in a redevelopment project in Stockton's Midtown area on what is the location of a former State of California mental hospital which was closed some years ago.

The 103 acre redevelopment site is now owned by the California State University System. Commercial real estate developer Grupe Co. is redeveloping the site, which is called University Place.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has signed a 25-year lease for an about 14,000 square foot parcel in the redevelopment project where it will build a fresh & Easy store from the ground up, according to our sources. Grupe Co. verifies the lease.

Plans call for a mixed-use residential and commercial development, including condominiums and apartments, along with office buildings and retail stores, at the 103 acre site. The development also is the future home for a new satellite campus of the California State University System, hence its name -- University Place.

The closest state university campus is about 35 miles away, in Sacramento. California State University, Stanislaus, which is located about 45 miles from Stockton, in Turlock near Modesto in Stanislaus County, operates a small satellite campus in Stockton. Sacramento State University also offers some classes in Stockton. But the city wants its own comprehensive satellite campus.

Colliers International, which has an office in Stockton, is marketing the University Park redevlopment project in partnership with developer Grupe Co.

We said well over a year ago, when we first reported on Tesco Fresh & Easy's plans to open stores in Northern California, that the grocer would be locating stores in Stockton.

Our research shows that whenever Tesco's Fresh & Easy leases a site for an initial store in a city like Stockton, more units will follow. As a result, look for addialtion Fresh & Easy store locations to come in the city. In fact, we are aware that Tesco is currently shopping for sites for additional Stockton stores.

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's store location strategy is one we've termed a "critical mass" store location strategy, meaning it likes to open and operate numerous stores, located not far from one another in a city, especially in larger cities like Stockton, which has a population of about 320,000. The Modesto example is a good one. It started with one planned store site and is now up to three planned locations.

In terms of the "critical mass" store location strategy, think about what Walgreens does with its drug stores and what Starbucks does with its cafes, opening numerous stores not far from each other in various neighborhoods in a city, hoping that the stores will become defacto neighborhood retail outlets by virtue of their mass availability throughout a given city's various neighborhoods. Critical retail mass.

This (the "critical mass" store location strategy) is what Tesco's Fresh & Easy has been and is doing in its current markets in California (Southern and Bakersfield), Metropolitan Las Vegas, Nevada and in the Phonix, Arizona Metro region. The strategic goal being to become the "neighborhood" grocery market of choice. There are 118 Fresh & Easy stores split between these market regions.

Stockton is where Tesco plans to build its Northern California distribution center. That distribution center is nowhere near completed however. In fact, Tesco has in our analysis intentionally postponed completing its Northern California distribution center as part of its decision to postpone its Fresh & Easy store launch into the region. Tesco has yet to confirm the distribution center will be located in the Stockton area.

As we first reported over a year ago, Tesco has and continues to look for potential Fresh & Easy store sites in cities throughout the Bay Area, the Sacramento-Vacaville region, and in Northern California's Northern San Joaquin Valley (and elsewhere in Northern California), near the cities of Stockton and Modesto. Those cities include Tracy, Manteca and Ripon, along with Turlock, Patterson and Merced, as well as others.

Tesco at present has eight Fresh & Easy locations planned for Fresno, which is about 45 miles south of Merced (which is 30 miles south of Modesto) in the central-near-southern Central Valley.

The grocery chain currently has three stores open and operating in Bakersfield, which is in the southern Central Valley, with plans to open six more in the coming months. Bakersfield is closer to Southern California geographically than it is to Fresno (Central California) and the Northern San Joaquin or Central Valley in Northern California. A good rule of thumb is that anything north of Merced, including Merced, is considered Northern California. Fresno -to- Bakersfield is generally considered Central California. Southern California begins once over the Grapevine, which seperates the southern valley from Los Angeles.

Fresh & Easy Northern California

Originally Tesco planned to have its first Northern California stores opened by mid-2008. Then it said the first stores in the region would open in late 2008. Early this year the grocery chain said it was postponing its Northern California launch indefinately, leaving open the date when it would open its first stores in the region.

Tesco has confirmed it plans to open and initial 37 stores in Northern California; 18 in the San Francisco Bay Area and 19 in the Sacrameno-Vacaville region of Northern California. It's now been over 15 months since it confirmed the 37 Northern California locations.

Fresh & Easy Buzz however has identified numerous additional Northern California planned locations in adition to the 37 announced and confirmed by Tesco's Fresh & Easy.

Below is a list of the 18 planned Fresh & Easy store locations in Northern California's San Francisco Bay Area that have been confirmed by Tesco. Tesco's Fresh & Easy officially announced the 18 locations in January, 2008. [Read our January 30, 2008 story here: [Fresh & Easy Goes On the Record: Announces 18 Northern California Stores in the Bay Area .] Fresh & Easy Buzz had already reported on a number of the planned Northern California locations prior to the public announcement/confirmation by Tesco

The 18 confirmed San Francisco Bay Area locations

>Antioch: Somersville & Buchanan roads; Lone Tree & Golf Course
>Concord: Clayton & Ygnacio Valley roads
>Danville: Diablo Road & Interstate 680]
>Fairfield: Beck Avenue & West Texas Street
>Hayward: Mission Boulevard & Rousseau Street; A Street & Hesperian Boulevard
>Mountain View: Middlefield Road & Rengstorff Avenue
>Napa: Jefferson Street & Imola Avenue
>Oakland: 73rd & Bancroft avenues
>Oakley: Laurel Road & Ohara Avenue
>San Francisco: Third Street & Carroll Avenue; Silver Avenue & Goettingen Street
>San Jose: Bird & Minnesota avenues; Almaden Road & Curtner Avenue
>Sunnyvale: Tasman Drive & Fair Oaks Avenue
>Vallejo: Oakwood Avenue & Springs Road
>Walnut Creek: Ygnacio Valley Road & San Carlos Drive.

Below is a list of the planned Northern California Fresh & Easy store locations identified and reported on by Fresh & Easy Buzz (with the exception of the Seaside and Oroville locations which were first reported on by local newspapers), but not confirmed to date by Tesco:

San Francisco Bay Area

>Vallejo (two sites). Two additional Fresh & Easy locations in Vallejo; in addition to the Oakwood Avenue unit in the city confirmed by Tesco as one of the 18 sites listed above. Read our report - May 21, 2008: Breaking News: Tesco Has Two New Fresh & Easy Stores in the Pipeline For San Francisco Bay Area; Brings Total to Date to 20 Units For the Region

>Pacifica: 5550 Coast Highway. Pacifica is located about 12 miles south of San Francisco. [Read our report - June 12, 2008: Upcoming New Markets News: Tesco to Locate Yet Another Fresh & Easy Store in San Francisco Bay Area; 21 Thus Far By Fresh & Easy Buzz's Reporting.]

[Related stories: October 7, 2008: Fresh & Easy Corporate Reps to Meet With Pedro Point Pacifica, CA Neighborhood Residents to Address Concerns Over Store to Open in 2009. October 9, 2008: Pacifica, CA Mayor Jim Vreeland Says He's Excited to Have Fresh & Easy Store Coming to Pedro Point; Says New Center Will Be One of the Best in Town. October 13, 2008: Pacifica Riptide & Fresh & Easy Buzz Join Together to Offer Pacifica, California Citizen Opinions On the Fresh & Easy Store Coming to the City.]

>Palo Alto: Edgewood Plaza Shopping Center. [Read our report - October 15, 2008: Tesco to Locate Fresh & Easy Store in Palo Alto, California; it's First in the City and SF Bay Area Store Number 22 By Our Reporting.] Note: We wrote this piece [ Upcoming New Markets Special Report: Upscale Palo Alto, California is Laying Out the Welcoming Mat to Grocers: Will Fresh & Easy Knock On the Door?] five months earlier, On June 12, 2008. Tesco's Fresh & Easy did come knocking at Palo Alto's door.

[Related story - March 19, 2009: Another Tesco Fresh & Easy Future Market City Bans the (Plastic) Bag: No Plastic Carrier Bags In Palo Alto, CA Supermarkets Starting September 18th.

Sacramento-Vacaville region

Click here to view a list and map of the 19 Tesco-confirmed Fresh & Easy stores in the Sacramento-Vacaville region in Northern California.

Sacramento-Vacaville region - not confirmed by Tesco

>Suisun City: Sunset Shopping Center. Sunset Avenue and State Highway 12. Suisun City is located between Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area, not far from the city of Vacaville. [Read our report - September 11, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Adds Another Store to its Sacramento-Vacaville Market Region Portfolio in Northern California.]

Elsewhere Northern California - not confirmed by Tesco

>Seaside: West Broadway Village Shopping Center. Seaside is located in Monterey County, in Northern California's south-central coast region. Note: The Herald (Monterey County) newspaper first broke the story on the Seaside location. We followed-up and verified the site. [Read our report - July 27, 2008: Fresh Buzz: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, Tesco PLC and Related Food Retailing News and Insight.]

>Modesto (3 stores thus far). (1) Sylvan Square Shopping Center; Coffee Road and Sylvan Avenue. (2) 1717 Oakdale Road. (3) Crows Landing Road near Whitmore Avenue.

[Read our reports: Sylvan Square - May 10, 2008: New Markets: Tesco's Fresh & Easy to Move Into Modesto, California Market; Open its First Store in the City Early Next Year. 1717 Oakdale Road - November 6, 2008: Upcoming New Markets News: Tesco Will Open A Second Fresh & Easy Store in Modesto, California. Crows landing Road - March 31, 2009: Despite Having Postponed its Northern California Launch Indefinitely; Tesco's Fresh & Easy Planning Third Store in Modesto, California.]

>Oroville, Butte County: Goldtown Plaza Shopping Center. The local newspaper, the Oroville Mercury Register, first reported on this location. Fresh & Easy Buzz verifield the lease and added some details in our report. [Our report - December 4, 2008: Despite Postponing its Northern California Launch, Fresh & Easy Continues to Grab New Locations in the Region, Including Going Rural.] Oroville is located in a rural region north of Sacramento.

Possible but not yet verified category
>Grass Valley, Nevada County. The local The Union newspaper reported in December, 2008 that Tesco's Fresh & Easy was negotiating with the owner of a closed Ford auto dealership in the city's Goldtwon Plaza to lease the dealership for a Fresh & Easy store. We verified the negotiations but haven't been able to verify the signing of any lease. [Our report - December 4, 2008: Grasss Valley - More on the Northern California Rural Strategy: An Existing Ford Auto Dealership in Grass Valley, CA Could Become A New Fresh & Easy Market.] As a result, we put this potential location in the "possible but not varified category" and don't count it yet as a "verified" Northern California Fresh & Easy planned store location.

Updated May 6, 2009:

Below are additional planned Northern California Fresh & Easy store locations we've uncovered and reported on since this piece was published. Tesco's Fresh & Easy has not yet confirmed these planned locations:

San Francisco Bay Area

>San Francisco, California. 32nd and Clement, Richmond District. This is the third planned Fresh & Easy store for San Francisco thus far, based on our reporting See our April 13, 2009 story here: Despite Postponing its Northern California Launch Again Earlier This Year Tesco's Fresh & Easy Planning Third San Francisco Store; First Stockton Unit.

>Hercules, California. New Town Center planned development. Hercules is in the Easy Bay Area, in Contra Costa County. See our April 17, 2009 story here: Another Planned New Location For Tesco's Fresh & Easy in San Francisco Bay Area: Market to Be Retail Anchor of New Development in Hercules, CA.

>Pleasanton, California. Rose Pavillion Shopping Center. Santa Rita Drive and Rosewood Drive. Pleasanton is in the East Bay Area. See our April 19, 2009 story here: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Signs Lease For New Store in Pleasanton, CA; We Reported 15 Months Ago the SF Bay Area City Was in its Strategic Sites.

Elsewhere Northern California - not confirmed by Tesco

>Stockton, California. University Place development, Stockton. This is the first planned Fresh & Easy store for Stockton. Stockton is in the Northern San Joaquin Valley; about 30 miles from Modesto and 35 miles from Sacramento. See our April 17, 2009 story here: Despite Postponing its Northern California Launch Again Earlier This Year Tesco's Fresh & Easy Planning Third San Francisco Store; First Stockton Unit.

Related stories from Fresh & Easy Buzz:

>November 12, 2008: Analysis: Hard Times at Fresh & Easy - Northern California Expansion to Be Postponed or Shelved Do to Economy; But its Only a Symptom Not the Cause

>November 20, 2008: Analysis & Commentary: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market and Tesco's Lowered Expectations

>May 15, 2008: Fresh But Never Easy: Tesco's Long But Rapid South-North March in the Nation-State of California

>April 13, 2008: April 13, 2008: San Francisco: Cool Bay Breezes, A City Full of History, Cable Cars--And A 'Fresh & Easy' State of Mind

>July 29, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy and San Francisco's Tenderloin Redux: Upcoming Developments Offer First Mover Opportunity For Fresh & Easy or Competitors

>December 29, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy, 'Food Deserts' and WIC Vouchers; A 'Year-End' Analysis & Commentary

>September 30, 2008: News & Analysis: Tesco Reports Half-Year Financials; Reports Loss For Fresh & Easy USA and Sales Per Square Foot Averages

>September 17, 2008: Store Workers at Huntington Beach Fresh & Easy Demand Union Recognition From Tesco Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

>November 16, 2008: California: The State of the State and its Economy; Governor to Propose Tax Increases and Massive Spending Cuts to Fix $11 Billion Budget Shortfall

>February 11, 2009: Tesco to Open Third Bakersfield, California Fresh & Easy Store On February 25.

>December 3, 2008: Tesco Opens its First Two California Fresh & Easy Stores Outside of Southern California in the Central Valley City of Bakersfield Today

>November 5, 2008: Upcoming New Markets News: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Confirms Bakersfield, CA Stores; Says First Two Will Open Next Month on December 3rd, 2008

>March 10, 2008: Bakersfield, California Region Next Up On the Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market New Store Parade

>May 24, 2008: Upcoming New Markets Special Report: The Changing 'Face' of Retailing in Bakersfield, California

>March 26, 2008: Mid-Week Tesco Fresh & Easy Roundup

>May 14, 2008: Fresh & Easy Buzz Exclusive: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Plans to Open Five Stores In the Fresno, California Metropolitan Region

>March 8, 2008: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Northern California DC Likely to Be At Arch Road Site In Stockton

>September 15, 2008: Wal-Mart Expanding its Discount Store-to-Supercenter Conversion Program As Part of its Strategy to Grab Even More Food and Grocery Sales Market Share

>December 29, 2008: Competitor News: Winco Foods to Expand in California and Nevada in 2009; Put Aggressive Focus on Central Valley, Northern California and Northern Nevada

>February 11, 2009: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Isn't the Only Food & Grocery Retailer With its Eyes on Bakersfield: Wal-Mart's Bakersfield Push and Central Valley, CA Strategy

>February 28, 2008: News & Analysis: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Confirms 19 Store Locations for the Sacramento-Vacaville Region in Northern California

>January 28, 2008: Fresh & Easy Applies For Liquor Licenses for Four Sacramento, California Stores

>Monday, November 17, 2008: Sacramento City Design Board Agrees With Oak Park Group on Design Changes For Proposed Fresh & Easy Store; Escrow Closed on $1.1 Million Parcel

>November 12, 2008: Analysis: Hard Times at Fresh & Easy - Northern California Expansion to Be Postponed or Shelved Do to Economy; But its Only a Symptom Not the Cause

>November 16, 2008: Tesco Fresh & Easy CEO Tim Mason Says He's 'Deliriously Happy' With the Chain's Progress Thus Far; We Prefer Andy Grove's 'Only the Paranoid Survive'

>Wednesday, October 8, 2008: Putting the 'Neighborhood' in Neighborhood Market: 'Localism' and Tesco's Proposed Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market in Sacramento's Oak Park

>Tuesday, October 7, 2008: Sacramento's Oak Park Neighborhood Association Files Appeal On Design of Proposed Neighborhood Fresh & Easy Store; Hearing Set For Oct.15

>Wednesday, October 15, 2008: Hearing Tonight For Sacramento, CA Neighborhood Group's Appeal of Design of Fresh & Easy Store Proposed For Their Oak Park Neighborhood

>December 3, 2008: Swearing-In of New Sacramento, CA Mayor Kevin Johnson Delayed A Few Hours Over A $2.2 Million Tesco Fresh & Easy Agenda Item

>July 16, 2008: Fresh Feature: A Former NBA All-Star Who Wants to Become Mayor, A Trade Union, And A Future Tesco Fresh & Easy Grocery Store In Sacramento, California

>April 29, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy an Issue in Sacramento, California Mayor's Race A Year Before its First Store in the Capital City Even Opens

>March 7, 2008: Former NBA All-Star and Sacramento Native Kevin Johnson is the Driving Force Behind a Fresh & Easy Market in Sacramento's Oak Park Neighborhood

>October 9, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Has Put 16 of its 93 Stores in Formerly Vacant Supermarket Buildings and Plans to Do More Coversions While the Deals Are Hot

>February 19, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Serving as an Economic Stimulus Package of Sorts for California's Troubled Commercial Retail Real Estate Industry

>January 30, 2009: Competitor News: Safeway Stores, Inc. Confirms Second Small-Format 'The Market' Unit to Be in San Jose, CA; Fresh & Easy Buzz Nailed it in June, 2008

>December 30, 2008: Competitor News: Smart & Final Appears Pleased With its Eight Hybrid 'Extra' Format Stores, More On the Way in 2009

>December 12, 2008: Competitor News: Safeway CEO Steve Burd Says Small-Format 'The Market' Is 'Good' So Far But Not 'Great;' But Must Be 'Great' in Order To Expand

>December 29, 2008: Competor News: Winco Foods to Expand in California and Nevada in 2009; Put Aggressive Focus on Central Valley, Northern California and Northern Nevada

>September 15, 2008: Wal-Mart Expanding its Discount Store-to-Supercenter Conversion Program As Part of its Strategy to Grab Even More Food and Grocery Sales Market Share

>May 18, 2008: Wal-Mart Looking For Sites in California For it's Small-Format 'Marketside' Grocery

>Tesco thus far has a couple Fresh & Easy stores planned for Northern Nevada, which is much closer geographically to Northern California (less than three hours from Sacramento), and is a much more similar market to Northern California than it is to southern Nevada, which is one of Tesco Fresh & Easy's existing market regions, along with Southern California, Bakersfield and Metro Phoenix, Arizona. Story link: Reno-Sparks, Nevada.

[You can follow Fresh & Easy Buzz around on Twitter.com at www.twitter.com/freshneasybuzz.]