Breaking Buzz
Yesterday we broke the news that Tesco will close up to 12 of its 184 Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market grocery stores in California, Nevada and Arizona. [Read the story here - January 8, 2012: Tesco to Close Up to 12 Fresh & Easy Stores.]
Today we can report that Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market plans to close 12 underperforming stores - seven units in California, four grocery markets in metro Phoenix, Arizona and one store in metro Las Vegas, Nevada.
Below are the addresses of the 12 Fresh & Easy stores to be closed:
California
>Fresno: Cedar and Shields
>Bakersfield: H and Planz
>Hemet: Florida and Lyon
>Anaheim: Lincoln and Western
>Baldwin Park: Francisquito and Puente
>Fountain Valley: Harbor and Edinger
>Ontario: Riverside and Archibald
All the stores, except for the Fresno and Bakersfield locations, which are in the Central Valley, are in Southern California
Arizona
>Phoenix: 7th Street and Thunderbird
>Phoenix: 19th Avenue and Glendale
>Phoenix: Camelback Road and 83rd Avenue
>Phoenix: 32nd Street and Greenway
Nevada
>Las Vegas: Ann and Decatur
The store closures were announced to employees of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market by CEO Tim Mason today.
In making the announcement Mason said this: " Like any retailer, we are always evaluating our store portfolio and we have decided to temporarily close twelve underperforming stores. At this time, there is simply not enough growth in sales and customers to keep these stores open. Many have been open for several years and are trading in areas where the network of Fresh & Easy stores will be able to absorb most of the existing customer base. We have taken significant steps to minimize the impact these temporary closures will have on you, including making sure we are able to offer all impacted employees a position at another nearby store."
As you can see in the paragraph above, Mason calls the store closures "temporary." He used that word because Fresh & Easy plans to "mothball" the 12 stores like it did with the 13 units it closed in November 2010. All 13 of those stores remain closed and are vacant.
Mason also told employees in today's announcement that although the retailer is closing the 12 stores, Fresh & Easy plans to "open more than two dozen through March, including seven new Fresh & Easy Express stores in Los Angeles and Orange counties and our first five stores in the Sacramento market."
The first batch of those two dozen-plus new stores are set to open on Wednesday.
Neither Tesco or its Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market chain has publicly announced the closure of the 12 stores listed above.
Tesco has now closed 25 Fresh & Easy stores since it launched its El Segundo, California-based small-format fresh food and grocery chain in November 2007, when the first batch of stores were opened.
Six of the 13 Fresh & Easy stores Tesco closed in November 2010 were in metro Phoenix, Arizona and metro Las Vegas, Nevada respectively. One store was in Southern California.
With the closing of the four Fresh & Easy units in Phoenix, Tesco will have just 24 stores in Arizona, down from a high of 34 units in October 2010, before the six stores were closed in November of that year.
There are currently 135 Fresh 7 Easy stores in California. Closing the seven stores will reduce the grocer's store count in the state to 128 units, but only until Wednesday when Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market will begin opening the first batch of what will be a couple dozen new stores in California over the next few months. See our exclusive list of those stores here.
The closing of the single store in Las Vegas, at Ann and Decatur, will give Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market 20 units in Nevada, down from the current 21 stores. The retailer plans to open a couple new stores in the metro Las Vegas region this year, so that store count number will rise once those units open.
Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market didn't open any new stores in Arizona or Nevada in calendar year 2011, although it has a number of locations in both states it's been sitting on in both states for a considerable amount of time. Instead, all 29 of the new stores it opened in 2011 are in California, which is where all but a handful of the new stores set to be opened in 2012 will be located.
We'll be offering some analysis on the latest round of Fresh & Easy store closings in an upcoming piece. Stay tuned.
Related Stories
January 8, 2012: Tesco to Close Up to 12 Fresh & Easy Stores
December 26, 2011: Solid Performance Gives Tesco 'Fresh & Easy' Wiggle Room - But CEO Clarke Shouldn't Sleep Soundly Every Night
December 8, 2011: Tesco Reports 11.9% Q3 Comp Store Sales Gain for Fresh & Easy ... But On Heavy Discounting
November 10, 2011: Chief Marketing Officer Uwins Out in Top-Level Reshuffling at Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market
October 10, 2011: Gov. Signs AB 183: End of Self-Service Checkout Only in California For Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market if Stores to Still Sell Alcohol
November 2, 2010: Closure of 13 Stores Brings Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's Store-Count to 155 Units
October 24, 2010: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market On Track to Close 13 Stores By November 2, 2010
October 5, 2010: Philip Clarke's Early Welcome to America: Tesco Logs $151 Million Half-Year Loss For Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market
Showing posts with label 13 fresh and easy store closures. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 13 fresh and easy store closures. Show all posts
Monday, January 9, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
Tesco to Close Up to 12 Fresh & Easy Stores
Breaking Buzz
Tesco plans to close up to 12 underperforming Fresh & Easy stores as part of its strategy to break even financially with its fledgling Southern California-based fresh food and grocery chain by the end of its 2012/13 fiscal year, which begins in late February and runs through February 2013, Fresh & Easy Buzz has learned.
El Segundo, California-based Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market could announce the latest round of store closures as early as Wednesday, January 11, according to our sources.
The store closure announcement could come as early as Wednesday because Tesco is opening a number of new Fresh & Easy stores, its first for the new year, on January 11. Timing the store closure announcement on the same day a number of new stores are being opened could serve to blunt some of the justifiably negative press that will come from the announcement, according to the thinking of some at Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, our sources tell us.
From a public relations perspective such spin could go something like this: 'Yes we are closing some stores but we also opened numerous new stores today,' followed by a comment or two on the continuing poor economy in the places where the stores are being closed, or something similar.
Fresh & Easy Buzz is the first publication to report this development. Neither Tesco or its Fresh & Easy chain have announced any plans to close any stores.
There are currently 184 Fresh & Easy stores in California (135 units), Nevada (21 units) and Arizona (28 units).
Tesco closed 13 underperforming Fresh & Easy grocery markets in November 2010 - six units each in Nevada and Arizona and one store in Southern California. Fresh & Easy's CEO, Tim Mason, said at the time the stores would be "mothballed," and possibly re-opened in the future. The grocer still holds the leases on the 13 closed stores. See here and here for details.
If Tesco closes all 12 underperforming Fresh & Easy units currently under consideration, which our sources tell us is probable, that will make for 23 Fresh & Easy stores it's closed since launching the Southern California-based chain in November 2007.
Additionally, Tesco has held back from opening numerous Fresh & Easy locations, some of which has been sitting in various states of completion since 2008-2009. These includes store sites in Arizona, Nevada and California.
That Tesco will close more Fresh & Easy stores comes as no surprise to Fresh & Easy Buzz, since we said in the blog in 2011 that it is one of the things the United Kingdom-based retailer will have to do if it hopes to come close to breaking even with Fresh & Easy over the next 14 months.
This year is a crucial one for Tesco with Fresh & Easy because for all practical purposes it has until the end of December to get to break-even with Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market because the month of January and partial month of February 2013, when the 2012/13 fiscal year ends, is insignificant. If it doesn't happen by Christmas 2012, it isn't going to happen at all because the month of January 2013 and a few weeks in February aren't enough to make a difference, in our analysis.
Because 2012 is a "make or break" year for Tesco with Fresh & Easy, expect to see other significant changes being made, in addition to the latest round of store closures.
On October 5, 2011 Tesco reported a fiscal half-year loss for Fresh & Easy of $112 million on sales of $470 million. The second-half fiscal year began at the end of August 2011 and runs until the end of February 2012. Tesco will report how much it lost on Fresh & Easy for its full fiscal 2011/12 year in April.
The half-year loss amount is 23% less than Tesco lost on Fresh & Easy in the same period the year before. However, there's no guarantee this trend will continue into the second half of the fiscal year.
Tesco plans to open numerous new Fresh & Easy stores this year. Opening new stores requires start up expenses and adds to labor costs. Sales from new stores lag behind paying for those start up and new labor costs, which makes breaking even with Fresh & Easy while opening numerous new stores an even more difficult task for Tesco.
Related Stories
December 26, 2011: Solid Performance Gives Tesco 'Fresh & Easy' Wiggle Room - But CEO Clarke Shouldn't Sleep Soundly Every Night
December 8, 2011: Tesco Reports 11.9% Q3 Comp Store Sales Gain for Fresh & Easy ... But On Heavy Discounting
November 10, 2011: Chief Marketing Officer Uwins Out in Top-Level Reshuffling at Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market
October 10, 2011: Gov. Signs AB 183: End of Self-Service Checkout Only in California For Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market if Stores to Still Sell Alcohol
November 2, 2010: Closure of 13 Stores Brings Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's Store-Count to 155 Units
October 24, 2010: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market On Track to Close 13 Stores By November 2, 2010
October 5, 2010: Philip Clarke's Early Welcome to America: Tesco Logs $151 Million Half-Year Loss For Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Closure of 13 Stores Brings Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's Store-Count to 155 Units
Beginning today, Fresh & Easy Buzz will be reporting Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's total store count as 155, to reflect Tesco's closure of 13 stores, which is official today. The previous tore-count was 168.
[See - October 24, 2010: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market On Track to Close 13 Stores By November 2, 2010]
The 13 under-performing Fresh & Easy stores, which Tesco announced on October 5, 2010 it would close by today, are located in Metropolitan Las Vegas, Nevada (six units); Metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona (six units); and Southern California (one unit).
[See - October 5, 2010: Philip Clarke's Early Welcome to America: Tesco Logs $151 Million Half-Year Loss For Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market]
Click here for the locations of the 13 closed stores. We have a permanent link - 13 Closing Fresh & Easy Stores List - at the top of the blog as well.
Below is a breakdown by market region of the 155 Fresh & Easy stores:
Southern California
= 92 units
Central Valley, California/Bakersfield Metro Region
= 7 units
Central Valley, California/Fresno Metro Region
= 7 units
Metro Las Vegas, Nevada
= 21 units
Metro Phoenix, Arizona
=28 units
Total
= 155 units
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market On Track to Close 13 Stores By November 2, 2010
Tesco plans to have the 13 Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores it's slated for closure - six in metro Phoenix, Arizona; six in metro Las Vegas, Nevada; and one in Southern California's Inland Empire region - shuttered and fully-closed by Tuesday, November 2, 2010.
The locations of the 13 closing Fresh & Easy stores are:
Metro Phoenix, Arizona
858 S. Greenfield Road, Gilbert
3232 E. Guadalupe Road, Gilbert
1045 S. Gilbert Road, Mesa
2009 N. Stapley Drive, Mesa
9124 E. Apache Trail, Mesa
5802 W. Olive Ave., Glendale
Las Vegas, Nevada
Desert Inn Road and Pecos Road
Vegas Drive and Jones Boulevard
Lake Mead Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard
Warm Springs Road and Eastern Avenue
Eastern Avenue and Fremont Street
Las Vegas Boulevard and Lake Mead Boulevard
Southern California
25050 Alessandro Blvd, Moreno Valley (Alessandro Blvd. at Perris Blvd.)
Tesco announced the closing of the 13 stores on October 5, as we reported in this story - October 5, 2010: Philip Clarke's Early Welcome to America: Tesco Logs $151 Million Half-Year Loss For Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.
Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market by the numbers
Once the 13 stores are closed, Tesco will have 155 of its small-format (10,000-12,000 square-foot) Fresh & Easy fresh food and grocery markets operating in California, Nevada and Arizona, down from the current 168 units.
Below is a breakdown by market region of the 155 stores after the November 2 closures:
Southern California
= 92 units
Central Valley, California/Bakersfield Metro Region
= 7 units
Central Valley, California/Fresno Metro Region
= 7 units
Metro Las Vegas, Nevada
= 21 units
Metro Phoenix, Arizona
=28 units
Total = 155 units
We have a permanent link listing the 13 stores to close at the top of the blog.
Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is boarding up the 13 stores and will continue to pay the monthly rent on the units unless it can either sub-lease the units, which it has been attempting to do, or work out some sort of reduced rent arrangement with the landlords, which is unlikely.
Tesco has said it could open some or all of the stores at some point in the future. It's called the closures "mothballing," in reference to that possibility.
However, based on our reporting, along with the fact Tesco would like to sub-lease the 13 units, we doubt if once closed any of the 13 stores will fly the Fresh & Easy banner and be reopened anytime in the future.
In terms of subleasing, the metro Phoenix and metro Nevada commercial real estate markets are so flooded with available retail commercial real estate space, particularly vacant buildings, we don't see Tesco having much success with that goal, outside of perhaps being able to sub-lease a handful of the units if it offers extremely appealing monthly rates. The Moreno Valley unit in Southern California could be easier, although the Inland Empire region also has plenty of vacant retail commercial real estate on the market.
Additionally, since Tesco couldn't make a go with the Fresh & Easy stores at the 13 locations, it's doubtful any other small-format grocer, outside of a local independent or two perhaps, or drug store chain (the buildings would be a good size drug stores) will be interested in the locations. Niche specialty type stores would seem to be the best available opportunity, considering the market and the smaller footprints of the store buildings.
Tesco currently isn't plan on opening any additional new Fresh & Easy stores this calendar year. No new units are set to open this month, and none are at present planned for November or December 2010.
The retailer opened nine Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores in September of this year. See the linked stories below for details:
>September 22, 2010: California Dreamin': Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, Whole Foods Market Combined Open a Total of Four Stores Today in California
>September 21, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market and Walmart Create A September New Grocery Store Rain Storm in Oceanside, California
>September 15, 2010: Two New Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Open in Fresno, California Region Today
>September 8, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Hits (and Breaks) the 100-Store Mark in California With Today's Openings
>September 7, 2010: 'Big Bang' September: First Four of Nine New Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Opening on September 8
>July 14, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Confirms Our June 25 Report it Will Open Nine New Stores in September 2010
>June 25, 2010: A Four Month Pause: No New Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Set to Open Until September 2010
As we previously reported, Tesco's Fresh & Easy currently plans to open 10 new stores in Southern California in early 2011. The current opening time-frame for the stores is January 1, 2011-February 23, 2011.
Additionally, the retailer plans to open its first batch of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores in Northern California beginning in early 2011, probably starting in February but it could be March depending on a couple of variables. [See - September 22, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Plans to Open Two Additional Stores in Northern California in Early 2011. Also see the related stories links at the piece.]
The locations of the 13 closing Fresh & Easy stores are:
Metro Phoenix, Arizona
858 S. Greenfield Road, Gilbert
3232 E. Guadalupe Road, Gilbert
1045 S. Gilbert Road, Mesa
2009 N. Stapley Drive, Mesa
9124 E. Apache Trail, Mesa
5802 W. Olive Ave., Glendale
Las Vegas, Nevada
Desert Inn Road and Pecos Road
Vegas Drive and Jones Boulevard
Lake Mead Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard
Warm Springs Road and Eastern Avenue
Eastern Avenue and Fremont Street
Las Vegas Boulevard and Lake Mead Boulevard
Southern California
25050 Alessandro Blvd, Moreno Valley (Alessandro Blvd. at Perris Blvd.)
Tesco announced the closing of the 13 stores on October 5, as we reported in this story - October 5, 2010: Philip Clarke's Early Welcome to America: Tesco Logs $151 Million Half-Year Loss For Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.
Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market by the numbers
Once the 13 stores are closed, Tesco will have 155 of its small-format (10,000-12,000 square-foot) Fresh & Easy fresh food and grocery markets operating in California, Nevada and Arizona, down from the current 168 units.
Below is a breakdown by market region of the 155 stores after the November 2 closures:
Southern California
= 92 units
Central Valley, California/Bakersfield Metro Region
= 7 units
Central Valley, California/Fresno Metro Region
= 7 units
Metro Las Vegas, Nevada
= 21 units
Metro Phoenix, Arizona
=28 units
Total = 155 units
We have a permanent link listing the 13 stores to close at the top of the blog.
Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is boarding up the 13 stores and will continue to pay the monthly rent on the units unless it can either sub-lease the units, which it has been attempting to do, or work out some sort of reduced rent arrangement with the landlords, which is unlikely.
Tesco has said it could open some or all of the stores at some point in the future. It's called the closures "mothballing," in reference to that possibility.
However, based on our reporting, along with the fact Tesco would like to sub-lease the 13 units, we doubt if once closed any of the 13 stores will fly the Fresh & Easy banner and be reopened anytime in the future.
In terms of subleasing, the metro Phoenix and metro Nevada commercial real estate markets are so flooded with available retail commercial real estate space, particularly vacant buildings, we don't see Tesco having much success with that goal, outside of perhaps being able to sub-lease a handful of the units if it offers extremely appealing monthly rates. The Moreno Valley unit in Southern California could be easier, although the Inland Empire region also has plenty of vacant retail commercial real estate on the market.
Additionally, since Tesco couldn't make a go with the Fresh & Easy stores at the 13 locations, it's doubtful any other small-format grocer, outside of a local independent or two perhaps, or drug store chain (the buildings would be a good size drug stores) will be interested in the locations. Niche specialty type stores would seem to be the best available opportunity, considering the market and the smaller footprints of the store buildings.
Tesco currently isn't plan on opening any additional new Fresh & Easy stores this calendar year. No new units are set to open this month, and none are at present planned for November or December 2010.
The retailer opened nine Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores in September of this year. See the linked stories below for details:
>September 22, 2010: California Dreamin': Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, Whole Foods Market Combined Open a Total of Four Stores Today in California
>September 21, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market and Walmart Create A September New Grocery Store Rain Storm in Oceanside, California
>September 15, 2010: Two New Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Open in Fresno, California Region Today
>September 8, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Hits (and Breaks) the 100-Store Mark in California With Today's Openings
>September 7, 2010: 'Big Bang' September: First Four of Nine New Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Opening on September 8
>July 14, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Confirms Our June 25 Report it Will Open Nine New Stores in September 2010
>June 25, 2010: A Four Month Pause: No New Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Stores Set to Open Until September 2010
As we previously reported, Tesco's Fresh & Easy currently plans to open 10 new stores in Southern California in early 2011. The current opening time-frame for the stores is January 1, 2011-February 23, 2011.
Additionally, the retailer plans to open its first batch of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores in Northern California beginning in early 2011, probably starting in February but it could be March depending on a couple of variables. [See - September 22, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Plans to Open Two Additional Stores in Northern California in Early 2011. Also see the related stories links at the piece.]
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