'Bigmista' Hits the Road Again For Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's Free Neighborhood BBQ Road Show

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's first free BBQ (pictured above) this summer was on June 4 at the Glassell Park store in Los Angeles, California, which is one of the first six Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores Tesco opened on November 8, 2007. [Photo credit: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.]

Promotions & Special Events

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has added nine new store locations to its free summer neighborhood BBQ road show.

Read: June 7, 2010 - 'Bigmista' Hits the Stores in Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets' Free Barbeque Road Show.

At the event's, Bigmista's Barbeque, which is owned and operated by the husband-and-wife team of Neil and Phyllis Strawder, grills an assortment of beef, chicken, sausage and at times other meat items for customers all for free. Various fresh & easy store brand side-dish items are also served with the grilled meats.

All of the stores are in Southern California. The nine stores, and the dates when 'Bigmista" will be grilling up free BBQ for all comers are:

>Friday, July 9, 2010 - 4 pm - 6 pm: Fresh & Easy at Sunrise & Tahquitz, 102 South Sunrise Way, Palm Springs, California

>Friday, July 16, 2010 - 5 pm - 7 pm: Fresh & Easy at Camino Santa Fe & Mira Mesa, 6755 Mira Mesa, San Diego, California

>Saturday, July 17, 2010 - 4 pm - 6 pm: Fresh & Easy, at Catalina & Canon, 955 Catalina Blvd., San Diego, California

>Friday, July 23, 2010 - 5 pm - 7 pm: Fresh & Easy at Moulton & Ridge Route, 23719 Moulton Parkway, Laguna Hills, California

>Friday, July 30, 2010 - 5 pm - 7 pm: Fresh & Easy at Rosecrans & Studebaker, 10930 Rosecrans Ave., Norwalk, California

>Friday, August 6, 2010 - 5 pm - 7 pm: Fresh & Easy at Wendy Drive & Old Conejo, 727 N. Wendy Drive, Newbury Park, California

>Friday, August 13, 2010 - 4 pm - 6 pm: Fresh & Easy at Main & Ammunition, 1101 S. Main, Fallbrook, California

>Saturday, August 21, 2010 - 4 pm - 6 pm: Fresh & Easy at Main & Raymond, 2121 W. Main St, Suite 300, Alhambra, California

>Saturday, August 28, 2010 - 4 pm - 6 pm: Fresh & Easy at Tampa & Nordhoff , 19350-A W Nordhoff St, Northridge, California

Neil 'Bigmista' Strawder works the grill on June 4, 2010 at the Glassell Park Fresh & Easy store at 4211 Eagle Rock Blvd in northeastern Los Angeles, California. [Photo credit: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.]

Good promotional event

In Fresh & Easy Buzz's analysis and opinion, the free BBQ road show is a good promotion by Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market for a number of reasons. Here are four below:

The "neighborhood" aspect of the event ties-in well with Fresh & Easy's mission of being a neighborhood market, for example. As such, the promotional events reinforce that message, in our analysis.

Additionally, the free BBQ's at store-level tie-in well to items Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is promoting for the summer grilling season - fresh meats and poultry, side-dishes, beverages, condiments, fresh produce and other related items.

There are few things better when it comes to promotional events than allowing shoppers to see, smell and taste the products a grocer is promoting in its stores. On that level the events add a sensory - see, touch and taste - element to the food, beverage and non-food items Fresh & Easy is promoting over the summer.

The events also add excitement at store level. 'Bigmista' is a vocal guy and draws people to him. And there's nothing like a little fire to get people's hearts pumping - not to mention the smell of meat and poultry cooking on the grill. When a grocer can draw a crowd around a store, even if many of the folks aren't shopping, it has creates excitement - which often can lead to purchases, if not on that particular day, on another one.

Lastly, it hard to get any better than free when it comes to promotions. And who doesn't love free BBQ. Such events can generate considerable goodwill for a grocer among consumers. Good will is a good thing to create - even if it costs a few bucks in terms of 'Bigmista's' fee and some product for the BBQ's.

In summary, it's our analysis that the store-level free BBQ roadshow promotional event is solid and integrates well into the neighborhood grocer mission of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, as well as the summer grilling season product promotions the grocer is offering in its weekly advertising circular and in-store.