Tesco's Fresh & Easy in Northern California - 2011Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market still plans two open its first two stores in San Francisco in spring 2011, according to our sources.
Based on the information we've obtained, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Tim Mason and his team plan to open the two San Francisco stores, which are in the city's Bayview District, at 5800 Third Street (at Carroll), and Richmond District, at 32nd Avenue and Clement Street, as early as late April but more probably in May 2011.
The exterior of the 5800 Third Street Fresh & Easy store (pictured at top), which is in the new "5800 Third Street" condominium development, is completed, as we previously reported.
The store's interior is at least fifty percent finished, and workers should have the inside completed well before the end of March, according to our sources.
Work on the Richmond District building at 32nd and Clement, which previously housed an Albertsons supermarket until it was closed in 2007, was started just recently. The store's exterior is about half-completed as of today, and work recently started inside the store.
Above is the former Albertsons supermarket at 32nd and Clement before work was started on the building by Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market. Below is a photograph of the building taken on January 25, 2011. [Photo credit: RichmondSFBlog.]
Fresh & Easy will share the building with a new CVS pharmacy, the two stores being side-by-side, as you can see in the floor plan diagram below. (CVS is on the left. The Fresh & Easy store interior is on the right.) CVS has also started work on its half of the building.
Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has a third San Francisco location, at Silver Avenue and Goettingen in the Portola District, which it acquired in early 2008. No work has started on the vacant building at the site, which was formerly a Cala Foods supermarket, owned by Kroger Co. (See the photo at bottom.)
Additionally, as we reported in a story on January 26 - Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is On A Mission - In San Francisco's Mission District - Tesco's Fresh & Easy is close to signing a lease for a vacant building at 1245 South Van Ness Avenue, in San Francisco's Mission District, which until December 2010 was home to a DeLano's IGA grocery store. Prior to being taken over by DeLano's IGA Markets in 2006, the store at 1245 South Van Ness was a Cala Foods supermarket, like the one at Silver and Goettingen, which is in the city's Portola District.
Pinning down the San Francisco openings
Tesco's Fresh & Easy announced on August 19, 2010 it would open its first eight stores in Northern California, beginning in early 2011. One of the eight stores it listed was the unit at 5800 Third Street (at Carroll) in San Francisco. Read our story here: August 19, 2010 - Tesco Will Open its First Eight Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores in Northern California in 'Early 2011.'
Nearly two months earlier, in this June 26, 2010 story - Tesco Planning to Announce in July When First Northern California Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores to Open - Fresh & Easy Buzz reported exclusively that Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market would announce before the end of July 2010 that is was opening its first Northern California stores in early 2011, adding that since the timeline for its Northern California launch has been an ever-fluid and changing topic at Tesco, the announcement could come a bit later than we predicted. A mere 19 days later, on August 19, Tesco's Fresh & Easy made the announcement.
But on November 10, 2010, Fresh & Easy made an additional announcement, saying it planned to open 12 rather than eight stores in Northern California in early 2011. However, the 5800 Third Street store in San Francisco, which was one of the eight original units, was not part of the list of 12 opening stores. In its place though was the other San Francisco location, in the Richmond District, at 32nd and Clement. [We explained what was going on in this story: November 12, 2010 - Postponed But Not Abandoned: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Gearing Up For Northern California Launch. Also see - December 14, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to Open 5800 Third Street 'Flagship' Store in San Francisco Later in 2011 Than Originally Announced.]
On January 12, 2011, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market announced the opening dates of what are 11 stores opening from March 2-to- April 27, 2011. The Third Street and Carroll and 32nd and Clement Street Fresh & Easy units in San Francisco weren't on the list. However, the grocer noted that it would be making an announcement "in the coming weeks" about when the two stores in San Francisco would be opening.
That announcement has yet to be made by Tesco's Fresh & Easy. But according to our sources, the announcement is coming soon. And, based on the information we have at present - and as we always note, new store opening dates, particularly when it comes to Northern California, where the first stores were originally to be opening in early 2009 , are dynamic and fluid - Look for the announcement to say that the two San Francisco Fresh & Easy markets will open as early as April, but most likely in May 2011.
Bottom line: Our original reporting, which you can see in the stories linked above, as well as those below, was that Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market will open at least 13 stores in Northern California in the first half of 2011. We stick to that reporting today.
Related Stories
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
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
January 10, 2011: Walmart 'Gets Real' With Smaller-Format Grocery Store Initiative in California; First Stores On Tap
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
[Plus: See these links - Fresh and Easy Northern California, Fresh and Easy San Francisco Bay Area, Northern California and Northern California Special Report - for additional stories.
"The store's interior is at least fifty percent finished, and workers should have the inside completed well before the end of March, according to our sources."
ReplyDeleteNot sure who your sources are but I can tell you there's nothing inside that location, not a single shelf or fixture.
And believe you me, since we have no other grocery options in our neighborhood, we are all waiting for that location to open. I'm practically counting the days!
Thanks for the message morgan.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the store's interior, we were/are referring to the finished construction work, not the installation of the shelving, refrig/freezer cases, checkstands, ect.
Regarding those things, they can be installed inside the store in no time flat. A crew can do it in a week without a problem, even less depending on the # of crew members. The store is small and there isn't that much equipment really. The shelves can be filled in a day or two.
Tesco's Fresh & Easy has been rushing to get the 11 stores opening March-April ready. Keep your eyes out - a crew should start installing the equipment at 5800 Third fairly soon.
Regards.