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

Northern California Market Region Special Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Below are those reports:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Northern California Market Special Report

After postponing its Northern California launch multiple times since announcing in January and February 2008 its plans to open 37 stores in the region, Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is gearing up to open its first batch of stores in the San Francisco Bay Area and nearby Modesto in early 2011. [See - January 30, 2008: Fresh & Easy Goes On the Record: Announces 18 Northern California Stores in the Bay Area; and February 28, 2008: News & Analysis: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Confirms 19 Store Locations for the Sacramento-Vacaville Region in Northern California.]

El Segundo (Southern) California-based Fresh & Easy announced in a press release on Wednesday (November 10) that it's in the process of hiring workers for 12 stores that are set to open early next year in Northern California, saying the stores are among the first the grocer plans to open in the San Francisco Bay Area and Modesto, which is in nearby Stanislaus County, in the Northern Central Valley. Fresh & Easy added in the announcement it expects to hire more than 275 employees for the stores.

Fresh & Easy doesn't mention it in its press release, but the positions it's currently hiring for are store managers and team leaders (assistant managers), as we've previously reported. The job listings are on the grocer's website, along with being advertised on various online job boards.

The 12 stores Fresh & Easy says it's currently hiring for are:

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

Background

On August 19, 2010 Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market announced it planned to open eight Fresh & Easy markets in Northern California in early 2011. [See our 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.]

The eight stores announced on August 19 are:

• San Francisco - Third St. & Carroll Ave.
• San Jose - Bird Ave. & Minnesota Ave.
• Danville - Diablo Blvd & Hwy 680
• Pacifica - Cabrillo Hwy. & Linda Mar Blvd.
• Vacaville - Elmira Rd. & Nut Tree Rd.
• Modesto - Oakdale Rd. & Lancey Dr.
• Walnut Creek - Ygnacio Valley Rd. & San Carlos Dr.
• Concord - Clayton Rd. & Ygnacio Valley Rd.

If you compare the 12 stores listed at top announced on November 10 and the eight stores above (August 19 announcement), you'll see there's one store (in green) - 3rd Street & Carroll/San Francisco - missing on Fresh & Easy's November 10, 2010 list.

Additionally, there are five stores (highlighted in green at top) that have been added (in the Wednesday announcement) for early 2011 openings (since the August 19 announcement). Those five stores are:

• San Francisco - 32nd Ave. & Clement St.
• Napa - Imola Ave. & Jefferson St.
• Pleasanton - Rosewood Dr. & Santa Rita Rd.
• San Jose - Saratoga Ave. & Payne Ave.
• Hayward - Mission Blvd. & Rousseau St.

Five additional stores confirm our reports

In other words, the November 10 announcement by Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is the first official confirmation that it plans to open the five additional stores in early 2011.

We say "confirmation" rather than "announcement" because if you're a Fresh & Easy Buzz reader, you learned prior to Wednesday that Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market planned to open those five additional Northern California Fresh & Easy markets in early 2011.

>We reported on the Napa store on September 14, 2010 in this story: Eight Plus One: Napa Unit Added to Eight Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Opening in Northern CA in Early 2011.

>We then reported that the 32nd & Clement Fresh & Easy market would open in early 2011 a week later in this story - September 22, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Plans to Open Two Additional Stores in Northern California in Early 2011.

>And on November 5 we reported Fresh & Easy plans to open the Pleasanton (Santa Rita Road & Rosewood Drive), Hayward (Mission Boulevard & Rousseau Street) and San Jose (Saratoga Avenue & Payne Avenue) units early next year. Read the story here: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Queuing Up Three Additional Stores in Northern California For Early-to-Mid 2011 Openings.

Fourteen stores set for early 2011 opening so far

Regarding the Third Street & Carroll Avenue/San Francisco Fresh & Easy store not being included in the grocery chain's November 10 announcement, Wednesday's press release from Fresh & Easy focuses on the stores the grocer is currently hiring for rather than being a list of all stores it's planning to open in early 2011. Therefore, it's possible the grocer has already hired the manager and team leader for the store. For example, we are aware first-hand of at least two existing company employees who've already interviewed for the store manager and team leader positions.

According to our current information, Fresh & Easy still plans to open the store, which is at 5800 Third Street, in early 2011 - as early as mid-February but no later than April.

Sunnyvale

In our September 22, 2010 story - Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Plans to Open Two Additional Stores in Northern California in Early 2011 - we reported that Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market added the store at Tasman Drive and Fair Oaks Avenue in the South Bay Area city of Sunnyvale to the growing fist batch of Northern California stores it plans to open in early 2011.

The Sunnyvale store isn't listed in the grocer's November 10 press release. However, based on the information we have a present, Fresh & Easy still plans to open the unit in early 2011. We define early 2011 as January-April.

Therefore, based on our reporting, the grocer is currently looking to open 14 Fresh & Easy stores in early 2011.

Early 2011 openings

In terms of the "early 2011" store openings, we've said often that opening months are fluid and dynamic at Tesco's Fresh & Easy, although our sources tell us they're becoming less so as 2010 comes to an end, which is why when you read over our past reports and stories you'll see we frequently mention that fact.

Right now, based on the best information we have (and remember it's fluid and dynamic), the first few of the 12 Fresh & Easy stores won't likely open until mid-February -to- early-March 2011.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy began searching for managers for its first batch of Northern California stores set to open in early 2011, as we reported in this July 29, 2010 story: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Putting Together List of Managers Interested in Transferring to Northern California. Note that our report was weeks before the grocer announced on August 19 its plans to open stores in Northern California early next year.

Fresh & Easy Buzz broke the news that the grocery chain would announce those plans in this June 26, 2010 story: Tesco Planning to Announce in July When First Northern California Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores to Open. Tesco's Fresh & Easy made the announcement on August 19 rather than before the end of July, as we reported.

However, as we said above and here, Northern California store opening dates have always been and still are fluid and dynamic at Fresh & Easy. After all, the grocer originally planned to start opening stores in the region in early 2009. [Also see - April 2010: Tesco Debating Whether to Launch Fresh & Easy Into Northern California This Fiscal Year... or Wait.]

Fresh & Easy started advertising for store managers for the original eight stores announced on August 19 not long after the announcement was made. The grocer started advertising for team leader (assistant manager) and other store-level positions recently, ahead of Wednesday's press release.

As we've been reporting since May, Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has been acquiring new, future store locations in Northern California at a rapid pace. See the linked stories bulleted below for some of those new locations:

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

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

>September 22, 2010: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Planning A New, Third Store in San Jose, California (This is the San Jose/Saratoga Ave. & Payne Ave. store set to open in early 2011, along with the others. It's the most recently acquired unit out of the 12.)

>October 26, 2010: Going Semi-Rural: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Buys Property For New Store in Northern California Town of Clear Lake

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

California hear we come - again

Looking to early 2011, in addition to its Northern California launch, Tesco's Fresh & Easy has announced plans to open 10 new stores in Southern California. The first of the 10 stores opens on January 12, 2011. Eight stores are set to open in February, with the last of the 10 stores scheduled to open on March 30. [See - November 4, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Confirms Our October Reports On 10 New Stores Opening in Early 2011

We first broke the news about Fresh & Easy's plans to open the 10 stores in Southern California in early 2011 in an October 17, 2010 story: No Additional New Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Set to Open This Year; Ten New Units Planned For January 2011. We then followed the report up with an October 25 story - Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to Open 10 New Stores in 10 Southern California Cities in January-February 2011 - in which we named the 10 Southern California cities where the 10 new stores would be located.

On November 4, 2010 Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market confirmed our reporting, announcing in a press release it plans to open the 10 new stores in Southern California in early 2011, along with listing the addresses of the stores, which are in the cities we named on October 25. See our November 4, 2010 story: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Confirms Our October Reports On 10 New Stores Opening in Early 2011.

As Tesco's Fresh & Easy, which operates 155 stores in California, Nevada and Arizona, prepares for the holiday 2010 shopping season - Thanksgiving and Christmas are the two leading shopping holidays for U.S. grocers - and looks to early and mid-2011, a time when the focus of its new store opening action is in California, the name of it's theme song is obvious: 'California here we come, right back where we started from.' After all, the first batch of Fresh & Easy fresh food and grocery markets - where and when it started - opened in Southern California in November 2007.

Linkage Below: The Fresh & Easy Buzz 2010 'Northern California Market Region Special Report' Series

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Two Years On: Tesco Opens First Two Northern California Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Tomorrow

The Fresh & Easy store in Danville (pictured above) opens tomorrow, along with a market in San Jose.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy in Northern California - 2011

Tomorrow morning (March 2, 2011) at 10 a.m. Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market will open its first two small-format (10,000-12,000 square-foot) fresh food and grocery markets in Northen California.

The two stores, the first of a 11 confirmed Fresh & Easy stores set to open in March and April, are in the San Francisco Bay area cities of San Jose (at Bird Ave. & Minnesota Ave.), which is in the South Bay, and Danville (at Diablo Blvd. & Hwy 680), which is in the East Bay Area.

We profiled the two stores in January and February of this year. You can read the detailed stories, which include photographs of the work-in-progress Fresh & Easy markets, at the links below:

>January 17, 2011: First Look at the Willow Glen-San Jose Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store Set to Open March 2, 2011.

>February 14, 2011: First Look: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store in Northern California's Danville Set to Open on March 2

We'll have coverage of the San Jose and Danville store grand openings tomorrow in Fresh & Easy Buzz.

Tesco's original plans were to launch its Fresh & Easy chain into Northern California in early 2009. However, siting the recession as its official reason, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market postponed the launch until tomorrow.

The additional and unofficial reason, which we've reported on in Fresh & Easy Buzz since 2008, Tesco postponed its Northern California launch for about two years, is because of the less-than-stellar performance to date of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, which lost $253 million last year (fiscal year 2009/10).

Tesco's 2010/11 fiscal year ended yesterday. The retailer says it will report a loss of $250-$253 for the just-ended fiscal year, about the same as last year's, despite the fact sales at Fresh & Easy have grown considerably year-over-year. In October 2010 Tesco reported a mid-year loss for Fresh & Easy of $151 million. [See - October 5, 2010: Philip Clarke's Early Welcome to America: Tesco Logs $151 Million Half-Year Loss For Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.] Tesco reports its fy-2010/11 financials later this year.

Nine more Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores are set to open in March and April.

Next up after tomorrow's openings is the store at Cabrillo Hwy. & Linda Mar Blvd. in Pacifica, which is just a few miles from San Francisco on the coast. We profiled that store in this piece, which includes photographs: First Look at the Pacifica, California Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store, One of the First Opening in Northern California in Early 2011.

Below is the store opening schedule for the remaining eight Fresh & Easy stores opening this month and in April:

March 16th, 2011

>Clayton Rd. & Ygnacio Valley Rd., Concord, California
>Elmira Rd. & Nut Tree Rd., Vacaville, California

March 23rd, 2011

>Oakdale Rd. & Lancey Dr., Modesto, California
>Ygnacio Valley Rd. & San Carlos Rd., Walnut Creek, California

April 13th, 2011

>Rosewood Dr. & Santa Rita Rd., Pleasanton, California

April 27th, 2011

>Mission Blvd. & Rousseau St., Hayward, California
>Imola Ave. & Jefferson St., Napa, California
>Saratoga Ave. & Payne Ave., San Jose, California

Nine of the 11 stores are in the San Francisco Bay Area. The other two markets - Vacaville and Modesto - are located not far away.

Vacaville is about halfway between the Bay Area and Sacramento. It's about an hour's drive from San Francisco.

Modesto, which is in the Northern Central Valley, is about 90 minutes from San Francisco. It's less than an hour's drive from the Easy Bay Area city of Pleasanton, where Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is opening a store on April 13.

Related Stories

February 3, 2011: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Spokesman Confirms Our South-to-North Distribution Reports in Talk to Pacifica, California Group

February 1, 2011: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Still Plans April-May 2011 Openings For First Two San Francisco Stores

January 26, 2011: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is On A Mission - In San Francisco's Mission District

January 17, 2011: First Look at the Willow Glen-San Jose Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store Set to Open March 2, 2011

January 14, 2011: Tesco 'Banking' on California in 2011 For Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market USA

January 12, 2011: First Northern California Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Opening March 2; Nine More to Follow March-April

December 30, 2010: Seven Predictions For Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market For 2011

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

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

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

November 4, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Confirms Our October Reports On 10 New Stores Opening in Early 2011

October 25, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to Open 10 New Stores in 10 Southern California Cities in January-February 2011

October 17, 2010: No Additional New Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Set to Open This Year; Ten New Units Planned For January 2011

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

March 7, 2009: Analysis & Commentary: The Seven Retail Operations Changes Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Needs to Make to Help it Get On the Success Track

For additional related stories, see (click on) the following links: Fresh and Easy Northern California, Fresh and Easy San Francisco Bay Area, Northern California, Northern California Special Report.

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.

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