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.
Danville store opening was well attended. Parking lot full. Store full. Checkout line moved pretty well for how many people were in the store.
ReplyDeleteThere were around 75 people at the Danville store while I was there from a little after 10 to about 11 am. Many were shopping but also a lot of curiosity seekers and people looking for freebies. Met a few like myself who were taking a break from job hunting also. Walgreens looked like it got some extra biz from the opening. I would have bought more of the ready meals and salads then I did but so many had code dates expiring in 2-3 days.
ReplyDelete