Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Breaks Ground Today For Second Store in South Los Angeles

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (pictured above) at the podium during today's groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the future Fresh & Easy market in south Los Angeles. Meanwhile, the earth-mover behind the mayor did some "ground- breaking" of its own today during the event.

Southern California Market Region: Los Angeles

A who's who of local elected officials turned out today for the ground breaking of the new 45,000 square-foot West Angeles Plaza commercial office and retail center at 3501 West Jefferson and Crenshaw Boulevards in south Los Angeles, California, which will be anchored by a Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market fresh food and grocery store.

The project, long in the making, is the vision of Bishop Charles E. Blake and his teams at the West Angeles Church of God in Christ and West Angeles Community Development Corporation (CDC) in south Los Angeles.

The vision was transformed into reality today, as a backhoe broke the dirt at the site of the new center, while Bishop Blake, Los Angeles city and county elected officials, and a representative of Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market all took turns saying a few words about the project at a podium set up on the bare grounds when retail stores and office building are set to sprout over the next 12 months.

Among the elected officials attending and speaking at today's West Angeles Plaza center ground breaking in south Los Angeles was the Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, who spoke about the about 150 new jobs the new project, including the 20-30 positions at the Fresh & Easy market when it opens, will bring to the low-income community, along with discussing the benefits of having a new grocery store in the neighborhood, which is underserved by supermarkets offering fresh foods and groceries at affordable prices.

Also attending and speaking at today's groundbreaking were Los Angeles City Councilmember Herb Wesson and County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas; Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel; Bishop Blake; and Mary Kasper, vice president for legal and public affairs at Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, who said: "We want to continue to be part of the solution in providing greater food access and healthier food options to all types of communities. We've found everyone wants access to the same types of foods – fresh produce, quality meats and poultry, and family staples like eggs and milk – at prices they can afford, right where they live."

In addition to a 10,000-12,000 square-foot Fresh & Easy market, the first phase of the 45,000 square foot West Angeles Plaza development is set to include a bank and commercial office space, according to Bishop Blake.

From there, plans call for adding more retail stores in a strategy designed to further position and reinforce the center and Crenshaw Boulevard as the principle mercantile street in South Los Angeles, according to the West Angeles CDC, which is developing the 45,000 square-foot retail and commercial office center, which has financing from numerous government and private sources.

The Fresh & Easy store on the corner of West Jefferson and Crenshaw Boulevards will be the second unit in south Los Angeles for Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, which is headquartered not far way in the city of El Segundo.

It was a nearly year ago this month in fact, on February 24, 2010, that Tesco's Fresh & Easy opened its first south Los Angeles market at Central and Adams. [See - February 24, 2010: Fresh & Easy Store Opens its Doors in South Los Angeles

The 3501 West Jefferson & Crenshaw store, the grocer's second store in south Los Angeles, is set to be completed and opened no sooner that the end of this year, and most-likely in early 2012.

Most of south Los Angeles is considered a "food desert," meaning residents of the highly-populated, lower-income region of Los Angeles are underserved by grocery stores that offer a full-selection of fresh food and grocery products at decent or affordable prices. One of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's stated goals is to open stores in food desert communities like south Los Angeles. Thus far, about four -to- five of Tesco's 96 Fresh & Easy markets in Southern California are in food desert regions and neighborhoods.

Tesco currently operates 159 Fresh & Easy stores - 110 units in California, 28 markets in Arizona, and 21 stores in Nevada.

Los Angeles, including south L.A., is a major focus for the grocery chain when it comes to new store development. For example, as we eported in a December 10, 2010 story - Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Tim Mason Says 70 New Stores Possible in Los Angeles Area Tesco deputy CEO and Fresh & Easy USA CEO Tim Mason told a Southern California business group that he and his team are looking at opening up to 70 stores over the next couple years in the Los Angeles area.

Additionally, in a January 23, 2011 story - Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Looking For Locations For New, Smaller-Format 4,000-to-5,000 Square-Foot Stores - we broke the news that Tesco's Fresh & Easy is looking for locations for smaller-format stores, which it plans to open in addition to its 10,000-12,000 square-foot markets. A number of the sites Fresh & Easy is looking at for those smaller stores are in the Los Angeles area, along with other parts of Southern California and in Northern California, as we reported in our January 23 story, which has since been picked up by the Oakland Tribune (January 27, 2011) and Financial Times (February 1, 2011), although neither publication attributed Fresh & Easy Buzz as the original source of the information, which we are.

As we've reported previously, Tesco says it plans to have 400 Fresh & Easy stores open and operating about two years from now, a number it says it needs, all receiving product from its Riverside County California distribution center, in order to break even with Fresh & Easy by the end of its 2012/12 fiscal year.

In order to get to that magic 400 stores over the next two years, Tesco's Fresh & Easy has to open 241 units in that time period, which is 82 more stores than it's opened in the three-plus years since November 2007, when it began opening Fresh & Easy stores. There are 159 stores as of today. The simple logistics of achieving the opening of 241 stores over two years is extremely difficult, let alone is the prudence of doing so, because finding and opening that number of quality locations in such a short amount of time is near-impossible, in our experience and analysis.

According to our sources, currently strategy calls for Tesco's Fresh & Easy to open the majority of these planned 241 new stores - a mix of the traditional 10,000-12,000 square-footers and new 4,000-5,000 smaller-format markets - in California. And Los Angeles, along with other parts of Southern California, Northern and Central California are key in this strategy. Some added stores will be opened in Nevada and Arizona, and potentially (at least theoretically) in any other nearby state (not many if any) that can be distributed to out of the Riverside County distribution facility in Southern California.

Related Stories

February 9, 2011: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Opens Three New Stores in Southern California Today

January 23, 2011: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Looking For Locations For New, Smaller-Format 4,000-to-5,000 Square-Foot Stores

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

December 16, 2010: New Retail Center Would Bring Ralphs Supermarket, Target Store to South Los Angeles' Crenshaw Corridor

December 16, 2010: City Council Approves Crenshaw-South Los Angeles Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store Despite Opposition

December 15, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's California WIC Voucher Expansion Program Stalled

December 10, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Tim Mason Says 70 New Stores Possible in Los Angeles Area

November 9, 2010: Bullseye: Target Goes From Zero-to-Eighty-Seven 'P-Fresh' Food Markets in Southern California in Under Two Years

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

February 24, 2010: Fresh & Easy Store Opens its Doors in South Los Angeles

February 23, 2010: Food Deserts & WIC Vouchers: Half A Loaf For the New Fresh & Easy Store Opening Tomorrow in South Los Angeles

[Also, click at the following links - food deserts, south Los Angeles, Fresh and Easy Southern California, Southern California Market Region Report and neighborhoods underserved by supermarkets - for more related stories.]

New Retail Center Would Bring Ralphs Supermarket, Target Store to South Los Angeles' Crenshaw Corridor

Above and below: Two views of the three-level, 300,000 square-foot "District Square" retail center/mall planned for Crenshaw Boulevard and Rodeo Road, achored by a Ralphs supermarket and Target discount format store. The Ralphs and target are at the far right. Click on the renderings to enlarge. [Credit: Charles Company.]

Southern California Market Region

[Related Story - December 16, 2010: City Council Approves Crenshaw-South Los Angeles Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store Despite Opposition]

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market isn't the only food and grocery retailer coming to Crenshaw Boulevard in south Los Angeles.

Developer Charles Company is working on bringing a Ralphs supermarket and a Target store, which would have one of its "P-Fresh" fresh food and grocery stores inside, to a new development, "District Square," on a six acre site at the corner of Crenshaw Boulevard and Rodeo Road in south Los Angeles. Ralphs, which is the leading grocery chain in Southern California, is owned by Kroger Co.

In addition to the Ralphs supermarket and Target store, the planned $93 million, three-level, 300,000 square-foot urban retail center, which is near Los Angeles' new Exposition Light Rail Line and the popular West Angeles Cathedral, is to include stores from off-price apparel retailers Marshall's and Ross Dress for Less, along with other retail stores and restaurants, including a Chuck E Cheese.

There is an existing Ralphs supermarket at the site. It would be demolished and a new store built on the ground-level of the 300,000 square-foot urban mall/shopping center.

The Target store would be on top level, along with a parking lot, as you can see in the architect's rendering above.

Under the plans, the City of Los Angeles is providing about 30% of the developer financing, using a federal HUD loan, along with funds from the city's Community Redevelopment Agency. There would then be a revenue sharing scheme that would see a percentage of sales tax money from the new center being used by the city to pay off the loans, rather than going into its general fund.

With two Fresh & Easy stores on Crenshaw Boulevard on the way [See -December 16, 2010: City Council Approves Crenshaw-South Los Angeles Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store Despite Opposition], as well as the new Ralphs and Target stores planned for the "District Square" retail center, the Crenshaw corridor in south Los Angeles, which is underserved by grocery stores offering fresh foods and groceries at reasonable prices, is about to get a food retailing shot in the arm, providing a little added shopping sustenance for residents of the Crenshaw "food desert," added sales tax revenue for the City of Los Angeles, and competition between three food retailers - Fresh & Easy, Ralphs and Target - in a part of the city that's long been trying to lure more grocers.

Related Stories

November 9, 2010: Bullseye: Target Goes From Zero-to-Eighty-Seven 'P-Fresh' Food Markets in Southern California in Under Two Years

September 24, 2010: Target to Have 'P-fresh' Fresh Food & Grocery Markets in 850 Stores By 2011 End; First Smaller Urban Store Set For Seattle in 2012

December 10, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Tim Mason Says 70 New Stores Possible in Los Angeles Area

July 11, 2008: 'Food Desert' Neighborhoods and Southern California: More on the Fresh & Easy Store Planned For South Central Los Angeles

July 15, 2008: Fresh Food to Bloom in An Inner-City Food Desert: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Breaks Ground For New Store in Underserved South Los Angeles Neighborhood

Click here for a selection of stories and posts about the "food desert" issue

City Council Approves Crenshaw-South Los Angeles Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store Despite Opposition

Pictured above is an artist's rendering of the planned Fresh & Easy store at 52nd Street and Crenshaw Boulevard in south Los Angeles. The design of the parking lot - it's located next to rather than behind the building - generated opposition to Fresh & Easy's plan. But twelve of the 13 members of the Los Angeles City Council voted to approve the plan with the parking lot as is, next to the store. [Artist's rendering: KL Architects.]

Southern California Market Region

[Related Story - December 16, 2010: New Retail Center Would Bring Ralphs Supermarket, Target Store to South Los Angeles' Crenshaw]

Despite objections by a number of neighborhood groups, the Los Angeles City Council voted to approve (13 members for and just one member against) a proposed Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market store at 52nd Street and Crenshaw Boulevard, in south Los Angeles.

The store will be the fresh food and grocery chain's second market in south Los Angeles, a part of the city that's currently underserved by supermarkets offering fresh food and groceries at reasonable prices.

In September of this year the Los Angeles City Planning Commission granted Tesco-owned Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market four of the five exemptions it requested to what's called the Crenshaw Specific Plan, an area zoning policy that prohibits certain types of new development in the neighborhood, including automotive businesses, drive-through establishments, gun and pawn shops, swap meets, public storage facilities, motels, bars not attached to dining and dancing businesses, recycling and buy-back centers and strip malls.

The four exemptions are:

>To permit two wall signs along the façade facing Crenshaw Boulevard and one pedestrian sign (three total) along the façade facing 52nd Street in lieu of the maximum of one wall sign and one Pedestrian Sign (two total) which is otherwise permitted for each business establishment located on a street corner.

>To permit a sign along the east elevation of the proposed project (Crenshaw Corridor frontage) to have 184.6 square feet of sign area, and to also permit a sign along the north elevation (52nd Street frontage) to have 124.7 square feet of sign area, both of which exceed the maximum 75 feet of sign area otherwise permitted.

>To permit the northern facing ground floor façade (facing 52nd Street) to have 20 percent transparent building elements in lieu of the otherwise required 50 percent.

>To permit a surface parking lot for the proposed Fresh & Easy Market to be located at the side of the structure instead of the rear of the building as is otherwise required.

The Crenshaw Specific Plan, which mandates that all new developments have parking behind the retail or office buildings, is also designed to encourage pedestrian foot-traffic along Crenshaw Boulevard and the neighboring streets.

Following the granting of the exemptions and approval of Fresh & Easy's plans by the planning commission for the store at 52nd Street and Crenshaw Boulevard, The Hyde Park Organizational Partnership for Empowerment (HOPE), a non-profit neighborhood organization, along with a couple other community groups appealed the commission's decision to the Los Angeles City Council. (You can view a December 3, 2010 "open letter" HOPE director Winnifred Jackson wrote about the group's opposition to the store here.)

The key point of opposition HOPE and the others have to the proposed Crenshaw Fresh & Easy market is design-related: They want the store's parking lot to be placed in back (behind) the store rather than next to it (see the artist's rendering at top). One of the exemptions to the Crenshaw Specific Plan (number four in the above list) given to Fresh & Easy allows for the parking lot to be next to rather than in back of the store.

The opponents argued to the city council at yesterday's meeting that the parking lot should be located behind the grocery market because doing so fits the elements of the Crenshaw Specific Plan, including encouraging more pedestrian-friendly development. They claim having the parking lot next to instead of in back of the Fresh & Easy store creates an automobile-related strip mall development, which is prohibited in the Crenshaw Specific (zoning) Plan. (See above.)

Tesco's Fresh & Easy says the shape of the parcel prohibits placing the parking lot behind the store.

The Los Angeles City Council, led by Councilmember Bernard C. Parks who represents L.A.'s Eighth District, disagreed with the opponents' position, however, and upheld the planning commission's decision to grant Fresh & Easy the five zoning exemptions, approving the plans for the store with the parking lot beside it rather than behind it, by a huge majority of votes.

"In a community with the highest rate of diet-related health problems - such as obesity and diabetes - as well as the lowest life expectancy in the city, this is a monumental step toward providing residents the choices they need to take control of their diet and their health," Parks said yesterday in a statement about the vote in favor of bringing the Fresh & Easy store to the majority African-American neighborhood in south Los Angeles.

Additionally, the majority of Crenshaw District residents who packed yesterday's city council meeting were in support of rather than in opposition to bringing the Fresh & Easy market to the neighborhood, regardless of where its parking lot will be situated.

Walter Cathey Jr, a regional director for Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market in Los Angeles, worked to rally support among neighborhood residents in advance of yesterday's council vote in favor of the planned fresh food and grocery market.

Cathey also worked closely with Councilmember Parks and other supporters to make sure the project had a broad range of support, not just from neighborhood residents, but also from city officials and other stakeholders.

For example, a member of the Los Angeles Police Department spoke out in favor of Fresh & Easy's store plan at yesterday's council meeting. Andre Dixon, a senior lead officer from the 77th Division, which is located in the neighborhood, said having the parking lot next to (the approved design) rather than behind the market (what the opposition wants), was superior from a public safety standpoint because having parking behind the store would decrease visibility and pose a public safety risk.

According to Councilmember Parks, the Fresh & Easy store, which the grocer plans to start construction on early next year, will be the first new grocery market to be built in the Eighth District in a decade.

Fresh & Easy is also planning a second store on Crenshaw Boulevard, at Crenshaw and Jefferson Boulevards. The store is part of the $12 million "West Angeles Plaza" retail project that's being developed by the West Angeles Community Development Corporation.

The south Los Angeles region, which comprises numerous neighborhoods, is a "food dessert" area, meaning it offers a less than desired number supermarkets that offer fresh foods and groceries at reasonable prices.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market opened its first store in south Los Angeles in February of this year. [See - February 24, 2010: Fresh & Easy Store Opens its Doors in South Los Angeles.] That store, which is at 1025 East Adams Boulevard (Central & Adams), has thus far been one of the grocer's better performing Southern California units, our sources tell us.

The grocer also has a store in nearby Compton, which also has a history of being undeserved by supermarkets. [See - February 10, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Opens Latest New Store in 'Food Desert' City of Compton, California.]

The majority of the 92 Fresh & Easy stores in Southern California are suburban locations, located in middle-to-higher income neighborhoods in the region. There are currently 155 Fresh & Easy markets - 106 stores in California, 28 in Arizona, and 21 in Nevada.

But the Tesco-owned grocer appears, based on our research and reporting, to be considering implementing a more aggressive urban strategy as part of its new store opening plans and growth in Southern California.

For example, as we reported last week in this story - December 10, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Tim Mason Says 70 New Stores Possible in Los Angeles Area - Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO and Tesco corporate director, told a San Fernando Valley business group last week that the food retailer has identified 70 new store locations in Los Angeles County and could open up to that many stores in the region down the road.

We learned this week from our sources that a number of those potential future store locations are in lower-income Los Angeles neighborhoods that are underserved by supermarkets. Whether the grocer opens that many (oreven close to it) stores in Los Angeles though, we will have to wait to see.

But residents of the 52nd Street and Crenshaw Boulevard area will only have to wait perhaps until late 2011, the time period when the grocer hopes to open the market, for Tesco's Fresh & Easy to come to their south Los Angeles neighborhood.

Related Stories

December 10, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Tim Mason Says 70 New Stores Possible in Los Angeles Area

December 15, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's California WIC Voucher Expansion Program Stalled

July 2008 piece: Tesco's to Open A Fresh & Easy Grocery Market in Low Income, Underserved South Central Los Angeles Neighborhood

February 24, 2010: Fresh & Easy Store Opens its Doors in South Los Angeles

February 23, 2010: Food Deserts & WIC Vouchers: Half A Loaf For the New Fresh & Easy Store Opening Tomorrow in South Los Angeles

July 28, 2010: What A Long, Strange Trip it's Been: South Los Angeles Will Be First Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store to Accept WIC Vouchers Starting Tomorrow

July 30, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store at Central & Adams in South Los Angeles is Now Accepting WIC Vouchers; Additional Stores to Follow

July 11, 2008: 'Food Desert' Neighborhoods and Southern California: More on the Fresh & Easy Store Planned For South Central Los Angeles

July 15, 2008: Fresh Food to Bloom in An Inner-City Food Desert: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Breaks Ground For New Store in Underserved South Los Angeles Neighborhood

July 6, 2008: Former NBA Great Earvin 'Magic' Johnson is Working His Business Magic in Urban, Inner City Neighborhoods; We Offer An Idea For Tesco's Fresh & Easy

Brookings Institution Takes In-Depth Look At 'Food Desert' Supermarket Access in 10 U.S. Metro Regions, Including California, Nevada and Arizona

The above video, "Getting to Market," features an overview analysis of the Brookings Institute's new "food desert" supermarket access study.

Fresh & Easy Buzz has written extensively about the topic of "food desserts" over the last three years, particularly (but far from exclusively) as the issue relates to the Western U.S., where Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market and its competitors operate fresh food and grocery stores. There are currently 168 Fresh & Easy stores in California, Nevada and Arizona. The grocer is closing 13 stores, which it says will be done by November 2, 2010. That will bring the total to 155 units. [See: 13 Closing Fresh & Easy Stores List.]

A "food desert" is defined as a low-income neighborhood - mostly urban inner-city but can also be rural - that is underserved by grocery stores that offer a decent selection of fresh foods and groceries at reasonable prices. Its residents lack sufficient access to grocery stores and must travel a distance to shop.

The "food desert" issue is a multi-facted one. First, it's a personal or individual issue. Residents who live in neighborhoods without adequate access to stores offering fresh foods and groceries tend to shop at mini-marts and convenience stores, buying and consuming less healthy foods, which leads to health problems, like obesity, diabeties, high blood pressure and other lifestyle-related problems.

Additionally, not having grocery stores offering fresh foods and groceries in the neighborhood is an economic issue for residents. Having to travel outside the neighborhood to shop means spending money on transportation, be it for gasoline for the car or for public transit. The economics can also play out in added costs for medical care and prescription drugs because of a reliance on less nutritious foods. High blood pressure and type 2 diabetis are often prevented by eating a healthy diet and getting exercise, for example. But once people get the diseases they tend to take perscription drugs to treat them for a lifetime.

The "food desert" phenomenon is also a social and public policy issue. In addition to the individual health and wellness problems residents in neighborhoods underserved by grocery stores face, there are negative social and economic implications for society at large as well. For example, because residents of neighborhoods underserved by grocery stores offering healthy foods often eat a much less nutritious diet, they tend to have more health-related problems than those living in neighborhoods well-served by such stores. Since most of the residents are low-income, they often lack health insurance and instead must seek public health care, which is paid for by taxpayers.

Prevention through access to fresh and nutritious foods goes a long way to not only making people healthier but also towards reducing the burden on hospital emergency rooms and other government-funded clinics, assuming of course people take advantage of the availability and practice a healthier lifestyle, which is something people from all economic segments of the U.S. population struggle to do. All these factors tax local and state government budgets, thereby creating a social and economic issue for even those residents that live in non "food dessert" areas.

But "food deserts" also present an economic opportunity for grocers and other food and grocery retailing format operators such as mass merchandisers (Walmart, Target) and convenience and drug store retailers wanting to offer fresh foods in the stores. For example, Walgreens is testing fresh foods, including produce, in some Chicago and New York stores. CVS Pharmacy is doing the same in about 40 stores in New York and New England.

Many food and grocery have been discovering this fact over the last couple years and have started to open stores in these urban food desert neighborhoods, after avoiding what are mostly low-income and inner-city areas since the flight to the suburbs movement took force in America a few decades ago. Wal Mart's recent deal with the City of Chicago to open up to 24 stores of various formats and sizes over a period of years includes a focus on stores in underserved neighborhoods on the south side, for example.

In addition, a number of states and cities have started initiates, many modeled after the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative, designed to lure grocers to these underserved neighborhoods. For example, the City of Los Angeles recently approved a multi-million dollar "food desert" initiative. Tesco's Fresh & Easy store in low-income south Los Angeles, which was opened in February of this year without any financial assistance from the city, is doing very well for the grocer.

The Washington D.C.-based Brookings Institute's Metropolitan Policy Program, in partnership with The Reinvestment Fund (TRF), which is a community development financial institution and research organization based in Philadelphia, has just released a major study of "food desserts," focusing on ten major U.S. metropolitan regions. The regions are:

>Los Angeles, California
>Phoenix, Arizona
>Las Vegas, Nevada
>San Francisco, California
>Atlanta, Georgia
>Little Rock, Arkansas
>Baltimore, Maryland
>Cleveland, Ohio
>Louisville, Kentucky
>Jackson, Mississippi

All of the metro regions listed above are live links. If you click on the name of the region, you'll get Brookings' analysis of the particular region in terms of which areas have the lowest-levels of access to grocery stores that offering a decent selection of fresh food and groceries at reasonable prices, along with some additional variables and analysis.

Brookings is a well known research center and think tank based in the nation's capital. It operates numerous programs in the areas of domestic and foreign policy. It's

TRF played a lead role in designing and implementing the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative, a program that provides grants and low-cost capital to facilitate the location of new supermarkets and fresh food retailers in that state’s underserved communities. That initiative is now the model for several other state and local programs, as well as the inspiration for a major new federal budget initiative that seeks to improve community health and economic development outcomes through supermarket attraction and expansion.

Brookings and TRF have also created an interactive map/data base [see it here] that can be used to analyze and pinpoint specific aspects of the underserved areas in the 10 metropolitan regions studied, which include the metro California, Arizona and Nevada regions listed above.

Unlike a lot of previous research that attempted to identify "food deserts," Brookings/TRF’s analysis looks at factors beyond distance to a supermarket that matter for access, including a community’s population density and level of car ownership. And it uses household income and expenditure data to help pinpoint the communities that have a significant untapped local demand for supermarkets.

This new and detailed information should be extremely helpful to retailers in considering locating food and grocery markets in these underserved regions.

For example, Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighbrohood, which operates 168 stores in Southern California and the Bakersfield and Fresno metro regions in California's Central Valley, along with 34 stores in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona and 27 stores in metro Las Vegas, Nevada, has opened a handful of those stores in low-income "food dessert" neighborhoods, such as its stores in south Los Angeles, Compton and a few others places.

[Note: we've seen and continue from time-to-time to see publications putting out stories saying Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market either has a "food dessert-focused" strategy or that it has been opening numerous stores in underserved neighborhoods. That's not the case. Less than 5% of the 168 Fresh & Easy stores are in areas that qualify as "food desserts." In fact, in our research we've only been able to identify three-four Fresh & Easy stores that are in areas that can be defined as "food deserts." The grocer currently has two-three new stores in development, including one in San Francisco, that are in urban neighborhoods underserved by grocery stores.]

"Across the 10 metro areas [Brookings] studied, about 1.7 million people (5 percent of total population) live in low- and moderate-income communities that are significantly underserved by supermarkets. African Americans, children, and very low-income families are over-represented in these areas," according to Alan Berube, a senior fellow and the research director of Brookings' Metropolitan Policy Program.

"Greater Los Angeles alone accounts for half a million of the underserved; and in the Cleveland metro region, more than one in nine residents lives in a low-supermarket-access community. Estimates suggest that upwards of $2.6 billion annually in grocery expenditures may 'leak' out of these communities due to a lack of nearby supermarkets," Berube says data from the study show.

That $2.6 billion annual figure, along with the respective figures for each of the 10 regions, is and important one for retailers. It means there's a sales opportunity gap of $2.6 billion in these 10 U.S. metropolitan regions alone that's being lost by the food and grocery industry in general and specific grocers in particular.

A number of grocers, including Kroger Co. and others (including independents), as well as Tesco's Fresh & Easy, have been opening a few stores in "food desserts" in California, Arizona and Nevada over the last few years, and are considering building and opening more. The Brookings research and the TRF food store access map should provide a useful tool for grocers and others, including municipal governments, in helping to determine the particular neighborhoods in the 10 regions studied that offer the most opportunity, combined with other research and data, of course. You can also access the data for the 10 metro regions studied using the PolicyMap’s feature, which offers 10,000 data indicators and full functionality. It's at http://www.policymap.com/.

For those interested in additional U.S. metropolitan regions TRF has a nationwide analysis of low-supermarket-access communities at its website here. There's additional information on the "food dessert" issue at the website.

There's clearly loads of opportunity for grocers in "food dessert" neighborhoods, if done right. For example, Tesco has yet to open a Fresh & Easy store in downtown Los Angeles, which although now has a Kroger-owned Ralphs Fresh Fare supermarket which is doing extremely well, still needs and has room for additional markets. This is a real missed opportunity for Tesco's Fresh & Easy, in our analysis.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, the Fresh & Easy store in the Bayview district at Third Street and Carrol Avenue, which is one of the first batch of 11 stores set to open in early 2011, is in a "food dessert" neighborhood. Kroger has one of its Foods Co discount supermarkets not far away but it's the only full-service supermarket in the vast Bayview neighborhood. The fresh & Easy will be the second.

None of the other 20-plus Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market store locations so far in the Bay Area are located in "food desert" neighborhoods, according to our analysis, although the 32nd and Clement site in San Francisco's Outer Richmond district, also one of the first batch of Fresh & Easy stores Tesco plans to open in early 2011, is in a neighborhood underserved by grocery stores, but its not low-income. [See our Northern California Fresh & Easy Store List.]

The "food dessert" issue is increasingly becoming a front burner topic among elected officials, government policy-makers and non-profit national, community and neighborhood groups. First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move," nutrition initiative has also shined a spotlight on the issue, since increasing access to grocery stores in "food dessert" neighborhoods is a major element of the program.

There's significant opportunity in numerous American inner-city regions, where residents are lacking access to fresh food and groceries at decent prices (and in rural regions as well), for grocers that can operate the right food and grocery retailing format using the right formula.

Additionally, with more and more cities like Los Angeles and others now offering various economic incentives to grocers if they will open stores in the "food desert" neighborhoods, the incentives to enter these neighborhoods and open stores can be extremely favorable for retailers.

Readers Resource

Click here and here to read a selection of past stories in Fresh & Easy Buzz on the "food dessert" and access to fresh food and groceries topic and issue.

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store at Central & Adams in South Los Angeles is Now Accepting WIC Vouchers; Additional Stores to Follow

The Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market store at 1025 East Adams Boulevard in South Los Angeles in now accepting WIC Vouchers (Woman, Infant & Children Program).

The store, located at Central and Adams in the low-income neighborhood, started accepting WIC this week, as we previously reported it would. (See our linked stories at the end of this piece.)

A Fresh & Easy Buzz reporter visited the store yesterday.

As we've previously reported, Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market plans to start rolling out the acceptance of WIC Vouchers to a number of its other stores in California, starting in about 30 -to- 45 days. Stores set to accept WIC then include additional Fresh & Easy units in Southern California, like the store in Compton, along with stores in the Bakersfield and Fresno areas in the Central Valley.

Currently there are no plans we're aware of to accept WIC at the 34 Fresh & Easy stores in Arizona or the 27 units in Metropolitan Las Vegas, Nevada. There are 98 Fresh & Easy markets located in Southern California and the Bakersfield and Fresno Metro Regions in the Central Valley.

Each U.S. state handles WIC individually, although most of the funding comes from the U.S. Federal Government via the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In California the program, which provides vouchers to mothers to purchase healthy foods and beverages like infant formula, whole milk, eggs, cheese, whole grain breads and cereals, fruit juices, fresh produce and other similar items for their children, is administered by California WIC.

[Editor's Note: Nearly three years ago, Fresh & Easy Buzz first pointed out and reported on the fact that Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, which opened its first stores in November 2007, didn't accept WIC Vouchers. Additionally, in analysis and commentary pieces beginning in 2008 - and right up until the grocer decided to accept the vouchers at its first store, which will be the Central and Adams unit in South Los Angeles, on July 29 - we've also pointed out in detail how, from both business (added sales) and ethical grocer perspectives, Fresh & Easy was missing the boat by not accepting WIC in its stores. [Suggested reading: September 7, 2008: Analysis & Commentary: Should Tesco's Fresh & Easy Put An Asterisk Next to its Motto? Yes; Unless it Corrects Four Operational Omissions and December 29, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy, 'Food Deserts' and WIC Vouchers; A 'Year-End' Analysis & Commentary]

Below is a selection of some of those past stories from Fresh & Easy Buzz:

July 28, 2010: What A Long, Strange Trip it's Been: South Los Angeles Will Be First Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store to Accept WIC Vouchers Starting Tomorrow

July 7, 2010: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to Start Accepting WIC Vouchers at Central & Adams Store in South Los Angeles This Month

September 7, 2008: Analysis & Commentary: Should Tesco's Fresh & Easy Put An Asterisk Next to its Motto? Yes; Unless it Corrects Four Operational Omissions

December 29, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy, 'Food Deserts' and WIC Vouchers; A 'Year-End' Analysis & Commentary

February 10, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Opens Latest New Store in 'Food Desert' City of Compton, California

July 2008: Tesco's to Open A Fresh & Easy Grocery Market in Low Income, Underserved South Central Los Angeles Neighborhood

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

July 11, 2008: 'Food Desert' Neighborhoods and Southern California: More on the Fresh & Easy Store Planned For South Central Los Angeles

July 15, 2008: Fresh Food to Bloom in An Inner-City Food Desert: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Breaks Ground For New Store in Underserved South Los Angeles Neighborhood

February 23, 2010: Food Deserts & WIC Vouchers: Half A Loaf For the New Fresh & Easy Store Opening Tomorrow in South Los Angeles

February 24, 2010: Fresh & Easy Store Opens its Doors in South Los Angeles

April 22, 2010: Breaking Buzz: Tesco's Fresh & Easy to Accept WIC Vouchers at its East Adams Store in South Los Angeles

May 14, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Not Yet Accepting WIC Vouchers at South L.A. Store; No Start Date Set

July 6, 2008: Former NBA Great Earvin 'Magic' Johnson is Working His Business Magic in Urban, Inner City Neighborhoods; We Offer An Idea For Tesco's Fresh & Easy

May 12, 2008: Food Deserts: Coalition to Create 'Blue Ribbon' Commission, Draft Report to Encourage Grocers to Open Stores in Underserved Los Angeles Neighborhoods

February 13, 2008: Leading Democratic Candidate for President Barack Obama Joins Group in Asking Tesco's Fresh & Easy to Put More Stores in Underserved Neighborhoods

June 3, 2008: Fresh & Easy Buzz Redux: Barack Obama to Tesco's Fresh & Easy in Our February 13 Piece: 'Build More Stores in Underserved Neighborhoods'

September 23, 2008: Food Retailing, Society & Economics: 'Food Deserts' and Public Health

March 20, 2009: Federal Government Spending Bill Increases WIC Voucher Program Dollars by $1.2 Billion; 21 Percent Increase

May 28, 2008: Las Vegas Market Report: A 'Food Desert' Neighborhood to Get A New Grocery Store; But it's Not A Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

April 27, 2008: New Study Points to Increasing Urban 'Food Deserts' In North America: Locating Stores in 'Food Deserts' A Part of Fresh & Easy's Strategy

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

July 29, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy and San Francisco's Tenderloin Redux: Upcoming Developments Offer First Mover Opportunity For Fresh & Easy or Competitors

What A Long, Strange Trip it's Been: South Los Angeles Will Be First Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store to Accept WIC Vouchers Starting Tomorrow

[Photo Credit: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.]

News/Analysis/Commentary

Sometimes the lights all shinin' on me;
Other times I can barely see.
Lately it occurs to me, what a long, strange trip its been.
- Truckin': The Greatful Dead

As we reported in this July 16, 2010 story - South Los Angeles Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store to Accept WIC Vouchers July 29; Additional California Units to Follow, and have been reporting on for some time prior to it - tomorrow (July 29) is the day Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market begins accepting WIC Vouchers (Woman, Infant & Children Program) at its first store - the Central and Adams unit (pictured at top) in South Los Angeles.

Earlier this week store employees, having recently completed training in how to accept and process the WIC Vouchers, were preparing for what one told a Fresh & Easy Buzz correspondent will be "going live" [with WIC] on Thursday.

As we also reported in our July 16 piece, Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market plans to roll out the acceptance of the vouchers - which are distributed to qualifying mothers by California WIC and can be used to purchase healthy food and beverage items for children like infant formula, whole milk, whole grain breads and cereals, fresh produce and other items - to additional stores about 30-45 days after the south Los Angeles store begins accepting WIC.

The South Los Angeles Fresh & Easy store, which is at 1025 East Adams in the low-income neighborhood, opened in February of this year.

There's a Superior Grocers supermarket near the Fresh & Easy which accepts WIC Vouchers, as do all of the Southern California-based chain's stores. By not accepting WIC at the Central and Adams Fresh & Easy store - or at any of its 159 Fresh & Easy stores in California, Nevada and Arizona for that matter - for the last five months, Tesco has been losing out on sales of numerous high ring WIC items like infant formula, whole milk, whole crain cereals and more to the Superior Grocers' supermarket down the street. [See - February 23, 2010: Food Deserts & WIC Vouchers: Half A Loaf For the New Fresh & Easy Store Opening Tomorrow in South Los Angeles and February 24, 2010: Fresh & Easy Store Opens its Doors in South Los Angeles]

Additionally, employees at the Central and Adams Fresh & Easy have since February been forced daily to turn away customers who shop at the store and receive WIC Vouchers but who can't use them because the grocery chain doesn't accept WIC. This also is the experience for employees at numerous other Fresh & Easy stores - and has been that way since the first batch of stores opened in November 2007.

It was in early 2008 when we first pointed out the folly of Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market not accepting WIC Vouchers in its stores. Our argument has basically been two-fold: That not only is the grocer losing valuable sales (a bad business decision) by not taking WIC, it's also failing to be an ethical grocer because there's a pact between nearly all food retailers, particularly those who have it as a mission to serve "neighborhoods," and the U.S. federal and state governments to honor WIC in their respective stores. Since Tesco's Fresh & Easy has "neighborhood" in its name - Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market - it certainly claims as one of its missions to serve "all" members of the communities and neighborhoods, including those residents who use WIC, where it has its stores.

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market CEO Tim Mason was paid about $6.1 million for his services last year. Yet it took him nearly three years from when we first pointed it out to change the policy of not accepting WIC Vouchers at the grocery chain he runs. And opening the store in South Los Angeles in February of this year, which has one of the highest per-capita percentages of WIC users in California, without accepting the vouchers in the first place is...well, priceless.

But starting tomorrow, unless there's a glitch with the store's POS system or some other reason to postpone the WIC acceptance launch, shoppers at the Central and Adams Fresh & Easy store who use WIC will no longer have to go down the street to Superior Grocers to use their vouchers. And over the next few weeks Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market will start to get a good idea of how much sales they've been missing in their stores for over two years by not accepting WIC Vouchers, particularly in the stores like Central and Adams and others located in low-income areas and neighborhoods.

Tesco's Fresh & Easy and WIC - Recent Linkage:

July 16, 2010: South Los Angeles Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store to Accept WIC Vouchers July 29; Additional California Units to Follow

July 7: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to Start Accepting WIC Vouchers at Central & Adams Store in South Los Angeles This Month

February 23, 2010: Food Deserts & WIC Vouchers: Half A Loaf For the New Fresh & Easy Store Opening Tomorrow in South Los Angeles

February 24, 2010: Fresh & Easy Store Opens its Doors in South Los Angeles

[Editor's Note: Nearly three years ago, Fresh & Easy Buzz first pointed out and reported on the fact that Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, which opened its first stores in November 2007, didn't accept WIC Vouchers.Additionally, in analysis and commentary pieces beginning in 2008 - and right up until the grocer decided to accept the vouchers at its first store, which will be the Central and Adams unit in South Los Angeles, on July 29 - we've also pointed out in detail how, from both business (added sales) and ethical grocer perspectives, Fresh & Easy was missing the boat by not accepting WIC in its stores. [Suggested reading: September 7, 2008: Analysis & Commentary: Should Tesco's Fresh & Easy Put An Asterisk Next to its Motto? Yes; Unless it Corrects Four Operational Omissions and December 29, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy, 'Food Deserts' and WIC Vouchers; A 'Year-End' Analysis & Commentary]

Below is a selection of some of those past, and related, stories from Fresh & Easy Buzz:

July 7, 2010: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to Start Accepting WIC Vouchers at Central & Adams Store in South Los Angeles This Month

September 7, 2008: Analysis & Commentary: Should Tesco's Fresh & Easy Put An Asterisk Next to its Motto? Yes; Unless it Corrects Four Operational Omissions

December 29, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy, 'Food Deserts' and WIC Vouchers; A 'Year-End' Analysis & Commentary

February 10, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Opens Latest New Store in 'Food Desert' City of Compton, California

July 2008: Tesco's to Open A Fresh & Easy Grocery Market in Low Income, Underserved South Central Los Angeles Neighborhood

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

July 11, 2008: 'Food Desert' Neighborhoods and Southern California: More on the Fresh & Easy Store Planned For South Central Los Angeles

July 15, 2008: Fresh Food to Bloom in An Inner-City Food Desert: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Breaks Ground For New Store in Underserved South Los Angeles Neighborhood

February 23, 2010: Food Deserts & WIC Vouchers: Half A Loaf For the New Fresh & Easy Store Opening Tomorrow in South Los Angeles

February 24, 2010: Fresh & Easy Store Opens its Doors in South Los Angeles

April 22, 2010: Breaking Buzz: Tesco's Fresh & Easy to Accept WIC Vouchers at its East Adams Store in South Los Angeles

May 14, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Not Yet Accepting WIC Vouchers at South L.A. Store; No Start Date Set

July 6, 2008: Former NBA Great Earvin 'Magic' Johnson is Working His Business Magic in Urban, Inner City Neighborhoods; We Offer An Idea For Tesco's Fresh & Easy

May 12, 2008: Food Deserts: Coalition to Create 'Blue Ribbon' Commission, Draft Report to Encourage Grocers to Open Stores in Underserved Los Angeles Neighborhoods

February 13, 2008: Leading Democratic Candidate for President Barack Obama Joins Group in Asking Tesco's Fresh & Easy to Put More Stores in Underserved Neighborhoods

June 3, 2008: Fresh & Easy Buzz Redux: Barack Obama to Tesco's Fresh & Easy in Our February 13 Piece: 'Build More Stores in Underserved Neighborhoods'

September 23, 2008: Food Retailing, Society & Economics: 'Food Deserts' and Public Health

March 20, 2009: Federal Government Spending Bill Increases WIC Voucher Program Dollars by $1.2 Billion; 21 Percent Increase

May 28, 2008: Las Vegas Market Report: A 'Food Desert' Neighborhood to Get A New Grocery Store; But it's Not A Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

April 27, 2008: New Study Points to Increasing Urban 'Food Deserts' In North America: Locating Stores in 'Food Deserts' A Part of Fresh & Easy's Strategy

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

July 29, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy and San Francisco's Tenderloin Redux: Upcoming Developments Offer First Mover Opportunity For Fresh & Easy or Competitors

South Los Angeles Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Store to Accept WIC Vouchers July 29; Additional California Units to Follow

[Photo credit: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market.]

Breaking Buzz

We reported on July 7, 2010 in this story - Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to Start Accepting WIC Vouchers at Central & Adams Store in South Los Angeles This Month - that the Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market store at 1025 East Adams in South Los Angeles, California (pictured at top) would start accepting WIC Vouchers (Woman, Infant & Children Program) this month.

We can now report that the store, located at Central and Adams in South Angeles, will start accepting WIC Vouchers on Thursday, July 29.

Additionally, Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market will start excepting WIC Vouchers at numerous other Fresh & Easy grocery stores in California - including additional units in Southern California, as well as at stores in the Bakersfield and Fresno regions in the Central Valley - starting 30-45 days after the South Los Angeles store's July 29 start date, Fresh & Easy Buzz has learned. The current internal target date is to have some of the additional stores accepting the vouchers one month from July 29.

Interestingly, read what we wrote in the three paragraphs (in italics) below, from our July 7, 2010 story:

According to our sources, the south Los Angeles store will be the only one of Tesco's current 159 Fresh & Easy stores that will accept the WIC Vouchers for a while. Sort of a test. But if all goes well - and it should since 99% of the grocery stores in California have been accepting WIC Vouchers for as long as the program has existed - its likely Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market will then start accepting the vouchers in some of its other stores, beginning with those in low-income neighborhoods like in Compton.

Were we Fresh & Easy, we wouldn't wait very long to roll out the acceptance of WIC to all 159 stores. Why wait? It's an accepted method of payment to nearly all grocers in the United States. A number of convenience stores even accept WIC, as do a growing number of farmers markets.

In fact, we suspect once Fresh & Easy sees the nice sales boost it gets at the Central & Adams store on WIC-eligible items (and thus an overall store sales boost) like infant formula, whole milk, juice, eggs, cheese, whole grain breads and cereals, peanut butter, beans and legumes, fresh produce and more, it just might (or at least should) want to accept WIC right away at its other stores.

The Central and East Adams Fresh & Easy market in South Los Angeles will be the first store in the chain of 159 units to accept WIC Vouchers, as we've previously reported.

Including the Bakersfield and Fresno regions in the WIC Voucher-acceptance roll out will benefit Fresh & Easy in the form of added sales at the stores it designates to accept WIC in the two Central Valley regions. In fact, as we've said since 2008, the fresh food and grocery chain should accept WIC at every one of its stores in California, Nevada and Arizona.

Based on a recent analysis we completed of WIC usage patterns at grocery stores in the Central Valley region, we believe Fresh & Easy could increase its overall sales in the Fresno and Bakersfield regions by at least 5% overall by accepting WIC at all the stores.

California's Central Valley has been one of the hardest hit regions in the U.S. in terms of high unemployment and added poverty since the recession hit three years ago. For example, the unemployment rate in the region currently ranges from 15% -to- 20%, depending on the county. That's compared to an overall rate of 12.6% in California. Much of the Central Valley, like South Los Angeles (and other parts of Southern California), also suffers from high non-recession rates of poverty.

Additionally, the Central Valley, including the Bakersfield and Fresno regions, has among the highest percentage of WIC Voucher users in California. The vouchers are distributed by California WIC to low income mothers who qualify. WIC Vouchers can only be used to purchase specific healthy and nutritious food and beverage items, such as infant formula, whole milk, whole grain bread and cereals, juices, fresh produce and other similar items. Learn more about California WIC here.

Every state in the U.S., including Nevada and Arizona where the other Fresh & Easy stores are located, has a program similar to California WIC. Funding for WIC Vouchers is provided to the states primarily by the U.S. Federal Government.

South Los Angeles has a high percentage of WIC Voucher users, as noted in numerous past stories on the topic in Fresh & Easy Buzz.

In fact, employees at the Central and Adams neighborhood Fresh & Easy, which opened in February of this year, for the last five months have regularly had to explain to the numerous customers with WIC Vouchers, that the store - and Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market - doesn't except WIC. Beginning on July 27 the store workers at the South Los Angeles Fresh & Easy market will no longer have to do so. [See - February 23, 2010: Food Deserts & WIC Vouchers: Half A Loaf For the New Fresh & Easy Store Opening Tomorrow in South Los Angeles and February 24, 2010: Fresh & Easy Store Opens its Doors in South Los Angeles

[Editor's Note: Nearly three years ago, Fresh & Easy Buzz first pointed out and reported on the fact that Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, which opened its first stores in November 2007, didn't accept WIC Vouchers.

Additionally, in analysis and commentary pieces beginning in 2008 - and right up until the grocer decided to accept the vouchers at its first store, which will be the Central and Adams unit in South Los Angeles, on July 29 - we've also pointed out in detail how, from both business (added sales) and ethical grocer perspectives, Fresh & Easy was missing the boat by not accepting WIC in its stores. [Suggested reading: September 7, 2008: Analysis & Commentary: Should Tesco's Fresh & Easy Put An Asterisk Next to its Motto? Yes; Unless it Corrects Four Operational Omissions and December 29, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy, 'Food Deserts' and WIC Vouchers; A 'Year-End' Analysis & Commentary]

Below is a selection of some of those past, and related, stories from Fresh & Easy Buzz:

July 7, 2010: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to Start Accepting WIC Vouchers at Central & Adams Store in South Los Angeles This Month

September 7, 2008: Analysis & Commentary: Should Tesco's Fresh & Easy Put An Asterisk Next to its Motto? Yes; Unless it Corrects Four Operational Omissions.

December 29, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy, 'Food Deserts' and WIC Vouchers; A 'Year-End' Analysis & Commentary

February 10, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Opens Latest New Store in 'Food Desert' City of Compton, California

July 2008: Tesco's to Open A Fresh & Easy Grocery Market in Low Income, Underserved South Central Los Angeles Neighborhood

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

July 11, 2008: 'Food Desert' Neighborhoods and Southern California: More on the Fresh & Easy Store Planned For South Central Los Angeles

July 15, 2008: Fresh Food to Bloom in An Inner-City Food Desert: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Breaks Ground For New Store in Underserved South Los Angeles Neighborhood

February 23, 2010: Food Deserts & WIC Vouchers: Half A Loaf For the New Fresh & Easy Store Opening Tomorrow in South Los Angeles

February 24, 2010: Fresh & Easy Store Opens its Doors in South Los Angeles

April 22, 2010: Breaking Buzz: Tesco's Fresh & Easy to Accept WIC Vouchers at its East Adams Store in South Los Angeles

May 14, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Not Yet Accepting WIC Vouchers at South L.A. Store; No Start Date Set

July 6, 2008: Former NBA Great Earvin 'Magic' Johnson is Working His Business Magic in Urban, Inner City Neighborhoods; We Offer An Idea For Tesco's Fresh & Easy

May 12, 2008: Food Deserts: Coalition to Create 'Blue Ribbon' Commission, Draft Report to Encourage Grocers to Open Stores in Underserved Los Angeles Neighborhoods

February 13, 2008: Leading Democratic Candidate for President Barack Obama Joins Group in Asking Tesco's Fresh & Easy to Put More Stores in Underserved Neighborhoods

June 3, 2008: Fresh & Easy Buzz Redux: Barack Obama to Tesco's Fresh & Easy in Our February 13 Piece: 'Build More Stores in Underserved Neighborhoods'

September 23, 2008: Food Retailing, Society & Economics: 'Food Deserts' and Public Health

March 20, 2009: Federal Government Spending Bill Increases WIC Voucher Program Dollars by $1.2 Billion; 21 Percent Increase

May 28, 2008: Las Vegas Market Report: A 'Food Desert' Neighborhood to Get A New Grocery Store; But it's Not A Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

April 27, 2008: New Study Points to Increasing Urban 'Food Deserts' In North America: Locating Stores in 'Food Deserts' A Part of Fresh & Easy's Strategy

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

July 29, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy and San Francisco's Tenderloin Redux: Upcoming Developments Offer First Mover Opportunity For Fresh & Easy or Competitors

You can read additional stories on the topic from the archives here

Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market to Start Accepting WIC Vouchers at Central & Adams Store in South Los Angeles This Month

Breaking News - Plus Analysis & Commentary

The Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market store at 1025 East Adams Boulevard (Central & Adams) in south Los Angeles (pictured above) will start accepting WIC Vouchers (Woman, Infant & Children Program) before the end of July, Fresh & Easy Buzz has learned. The start date could come as early as two weeks from today, according to our sources.

Central & Adams Fresh & Easy store employees are set to begin a training program in how to handle the WIC Vouchers - which are distributed by California WIC (and similar agencies in each U.S. state, including Nevada and Arizona, where the other Fresh & Easy stores are located) to low-income mothers and used to buy specific healthy food and beverage items for their children like infant formula, whole milk, whole grain breads and cereals, and fruits and vegetables - starting either late this week or early next week. Once the store's employees complete the brief training program, the south Los Angeles Fresh & Easy market plans to start accepting the paper vouchers, which look similar to paper checks and are handled by grocers at checkout in essentially the same way as they process paper checks.

We first reported in this April 22, 2010 story - Breaking Buzz: Tesco's Fresh & Easy to Accept WIC Vouchers at its East Adams Store in South Los Angeles - that Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market had decided to start accepting WIC Vouchers at the Central & Adams store in south Los Angeles. We've been writing about the topic since 2008.

Since early 2008 Fresh & Easy Buzz has suggested Tesco's Fresh & Easy has been missing the grocery retailing boat - both from an ethical food retailing perspective as well as from a simple bottom line sales standpoint - by not accepting WIC Vouchers in its stores. [For example, read what we said in this December 2008 piece: Tesco's Fresh & Easy, 'Food Deserts' and WIC Vouchers; A 'Year-End' Analysis & Commentary] There are currently 159 Fresh & Easy units, located in Southern and Central (Valley) California, southern Nevada and Metropolitan Pheonix, Arizona.

Our argument regarding Tesco's Fresh & Easy and it's missing the food retailing boat by not accepting WIC Vouchers has been a simple one:

>First, there exists an ethical compact in U.S. food & grocery retailing between grocers (and their trade organizations) and the government in which it's considered good practice for grocers to accept WIC Vouchers, which enable low-income mothers to provide nutritious foods for the children, which they otherwise most likely would be unable to afford. Virtually every major grocery chain and most independents in America accept WIC VOuchers in their stores.

We've also have pointed out that since Tesco promotes the fact it has some stores in "food desert" neighborhoods, which are generally low-income, inner city areas where residents are underserved by markets that offer fresh food and groceries at decent prices (like south Los Angeles and Compton, for example) but doesn't accept WIC Vouchers at those stores, it's essentially offering "half a loaf" in that many of the residents of those neighborhoods, like south Los Angeles, are low-income mothers who use WIC Vouchers to buy needed foods for the children, but can't use their vouchers at the neighborhood Fresh & Easy store. [See - February 23, 2010: Food Deserts & WIC Vouchers: Half A Loaf For the New Fresh & Easy Store Opening Tomorrow in South Los Angeles]

>Second, from a pure business (sales) standpoint, we've argued Fresh & Easy is turning away needed sales, particularly at its stores in low-income areas like south Los Angeles and Compton in Southern California, along with a few others, by not accepting WIC Vouchers. Experienced grocers in the Western U.S. (and elsewhere in the country) know just how much added sales volume accepting WIC Vouchers can bring to a store, particularly those units located in low and lower-income neighborhoods.

Tesco either missed the business (sales) argument of accepting WIC Vouchers completely in its extensive research period prior to launching Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market in November 2007 - not to mention up until now - or decided to disregard the potential added sales reality of accepting WIC all together, despite the fact that Fresh & Easy needs every single dollar of added sales it can muster.

We charitably suggest the retailer likely missed it completely in its research because it created a policy for Fresh & Easy from the start not to accept any form of paper payment in the stores, including paper personal and payroll checks, WIC Vouchers and paper manufacturers' cents off coupons, although it does accept its own paper store coupons, the $6 off (purchases of) $25 or more and $10 off $50 vouchers it regularly distributes to consumers.

Tesco also installed point-of sale (POS) checkout systems in its stores that don't accept paper checks, manufacturers' coupons or WIC Vouchers, suggesting it was oblivious to the benefits of accepting WIC - not to mention manufacturers' cents off coupons and even paper checks, all of which it still doesn't take in the stores - from the very start.

In fact, it's this very point-of-sale system which in-part has held up Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market from accepting WIC Vouchers at the Central & Adams store to date, although the system has now been adapted to accept the vouchers, according to store employees.

On May 14, 2010, we reported in this story - Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Not Yet Accepting WIC Vouchers at South L.A. Store; No Start Date Set - that the Central & Adams Fresh & Easy store hadn't yet started taking WIC Vouchers. Store employees told a Fresh & Easy Buzz correspondent "some kinks" were still being worked out of the POS system.

California WIC had a moratorium on new retailers accepting WIC Vouchers up until January 2010. That moratorium was lifted in January, according to Melinda Beer, an official with the agency.

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is approved to accept WIC, according to Ms. Beer.

[We're told by our sources that the story linked at the end of this paragraph - and the many past stories on the topic linked at the bottom of this piece - provided an impetus to Fresh & Easy's senior management regarding the decision to accept WIC Vouchers at the South Los Angeles store: February 23, 2010: Food Deserts & WIC Vouchers: Half A Loaf For the New Fresh & Easy Store Opening Tomorrow in South Los Angeles.]

In fact, in April, Laurie True, the director of California WIC, told an audience at the United Fresh Produce Association convention in Las Vegas that she was told Fresh & Easy had worked out its problems with the POS systems and was taking (at that time) WIC Vouchers at a store in Compton. She had that store mixed up with the Central & Adams store in south Los Angeles, a simple mistake. However, as we reported in the May piece linked above, that wasn't the case. And of course, it hasn't been the case until now, according to store employees.

However, based on our reporting, that situation should change in the next two -to- three weeks, when Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market plans to start accepting WIC Vouchers at its store at 1025 East Adams Boulevard in south Los Angeles.

According to our sources, the south Los Angeles store will be the only one of Tesco's current 159 Fresh & Easy stores that will accept the WIC Vouchers for a while. Sort of a test. But if all goes well - and it should since 99% of the grocery stores in California have been accepting WIC Vouchers for as long as the program has existed - its likely Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market will then start accepting the vouchers in some of its other stores, beginning with those in low-income neighborhoods like in Compton.

Were we Fresh & Easy, we wouldn't wait very long to roll out the acceptance of WIC to all 159 stores. Why wait? It's an accepted method of payment to nearly all grocers in the United States. A number of convenience stores even accept WIC, as do a growing number of farmers markets.

In fact, we suspect once Fresh & Easy sees the nice sales boost it gets at the Central & Adams store on WIC-eligible items (and thus an overall store sales boost) like infant formula, whole milk, juice, eggs, cheese, whole grain breads and cereals, peanut butter, beans and legumes, fresh produce and more, it just might (or at least should) want to accept WIC right away at its other stores.

Additionally, it's important to note that WIC isn't just used by mothers who live in low-income neighborhoods. And in the current economy, people might be surprised at how many mothers in middle-income neighborhoods are relying on WIC to help them feed their children.

With average store market basket sales sizes nowhere near where Tesco wants them to be at present, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market would be smart to allow WIC Voucher use at all of its stores as fast as it can.

Further, as we've said in Fresh & Easy Buzz since 2008, not accepting manufacturers' cents off coupons, and to a lessor extent not taking paper personal and payroll checks in the Fresh & Easy stores, are two additional, simple, operational changes the grocer could make that would payoff in the short, medium and long run in terms of added sales - and even more importantly in increasing the customer universe for its stores.

[Readers: Follow the progression of our coverage, via the selected past stories linked below, on the WIC Voucher issue and Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, from when we first suggested the grocer was missing the boat by not accepting the vouchers, to when we started focusing on why Fresh & Easy should accept them at the south Los Angeles store, which opened in February of this year, to the present.]

September 7, 2008: Analysis & Commentary: Should Tesco's Fresh & Easy Put An Asterisk Next to its Motto? Yes; Unless it Corrects Four Operational Omissions.

December 29, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy, 'Food Deserts' and WIC Vouchers; A 'Year-End' Analysis & Commentary

February 10, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Opens Latest New Store in 'Food Desert' City of Compton, California

July 2008: Tesco's to Open A Fresh & Easy Grocery Market in Low Income, Underserved South Central Los Angeles Neighborhood

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

July 11, 2008: 'Food Desert' Neighborhoods and Southern California: More on the Fresh & Easy Store Planned For South Central Los Angeles

July 15, 2008: Fresh Food to Bloom in An Inner-City Food Desert: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Breaks Ground For New Store in Underserved South Los Angeles Neighborhood

February 23, 2010: Food Deserts & WIC Vouchers: Half A Loaf For the New Fresh & Easy Store Opening Tomorrow in South Los Angeles

February 24, 2010: Fresh & Easy Store Opens its Doors in South Los Angeles

April 22, 2010: Breaking Buzz: Tesco's Fresh & Easy to Accept WIC Vouchers at its East Adams Store in South Los Angeles

May 14, 2010: Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Not Yet Accepting WIC Vouchers at South L.A. Store; No Start Date Set

July 6, 2008: Former NBA Great Earvin 'Magic' Johnson is Working His Business Magic in Urban, Inner City Neighborhoods; We Offer An Idea For Tesco's Fresh & Easy

May 12, 2008: Food Deserts: Coalition to Create 'Blue Ribbon' Commission, Draft Report to Encourage Grocers to Open Stores in Underserved Los Angeles Neighborhoods

February 13, 2008: Leading Democratic Candidate for President Barack Obama Joins Group in Asking Tesco's Fresh & Easy to Put More Stores in Underserved Neighborhoods

June 3, 2008: Fresh & Easy Buzz Redux: Barack Obama to Tesco's Fresh & Easy in Our February 13 Piece: 'Build More Stores in Underserved Neighborhoods'

September 23, 2008: Food Retailing, Society & Economics: 'Food Deserts' and Public Health

March 20, 2009: Federal Government Spending Bill Increases WIC Voucher Program Dollars by $1.2 Billion; 21 Percent Increase

May 28, 2008: Las Vegas Market Report: A 'Food Desert' Neighborhood to Get A New Grocery Store; But it's Not A Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

April 27, 2008: New Study Points to Increasing Urban 'Food Deserts' In North America: Locating Stores in 'Food Deserts' A Part of Fresh & Easy's Strategy

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

July 29, 2008: Tesco's Fresh & Easy and San Francisco's Tenderloin Redux: Upcoming Developments Offer First Mover Opportunity For Fresh & Easy or Competitors