DW said she saw where Fresh 'N Easy was closing, effective immediately.

M

michael-in-phoenix

Well-known member
I knew the company aggressively expanded into the American market a few years ago. They are British-owned.

Not enough business, evidently.

They were a "neighborhood market" -kind of a cross between a convenience store and a supermarket.

Michael

 
Tesco-owned--and they made a lot of rookie mistakes in failing to adapt to U.S. market. One:

(I think I heard this on the "Marketplace" report on NPR) In their U.S. stores, they used the European method of shrink-wrapping produce, which works fine in most European countries, but...Americans really like fondling their fruit and veg. smileys/wink.gif

Another point the L.A. Times piece mentions is that a giant chunk of their salad selection was watercress--and they were importing a lot of (other) British favorites into the American market that just didn't make any sense. (I mean, I'd be delighted to have affordable watercress here, but it does seem like they just assumed the American market would conform to British tastes...which is a faulty assumption to make, especially on the West Coast.)

Anyway...an interesting example of "How Not to Open a Supermarket Chain." smileys/wink.gif

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tesco-fresh-easy-20121206,0,1202665.story

 
I dropped in once and wasn't impressed--everything being pre-wrapped was a turnoff

but if I had known they had bags of watercress I might have gone back!

 
Didn't like them, boycotted them for their parking mandates

They put in one quite close to me. Everything was mostly their brand, they had lots of pre-made meals. I tried one once and it was awful. I sorta felt like I didn't know where the food came from.

However, I boycotted them for their parking. They put in upfront parking (lots of it) for cars with families only and hybrid cars only (not charging stations, just parking spaces). Meaning seniors and everyone else had to park/walk quite far away and I saw quite a few seniors this impacted. It ticked me off.

 
Publix supermarkets in Fl and some southern states also sells most produce wrapped. Mixed feelings

on their practice. It did protect produce from all the customer handling, but the packages aren't always the amount needed or there might be two small and one too big zucchini in a package. The produce staff will break packages, although I usually did it myself. I bet they're glad I left Florida!

 
Unless I'm mistaken, TJ's is owned by the family who founded Aldi's. They're Germans.

Yeah, I often wonder about some of the policies these companies come up with. I imagine they have good intentions, but.... hmmmm.

Michael

 
You're right - can't believe everything you read (read an article saying they were British owned)

and oddly enough seems the heir passed away today.

 
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