Fresh & Easy
 |
|
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Retailing |
| Fate | Defunct |
| Founded | January 2007 |
| Defunct | October 23, 2015 |
| Headquarters | El Segundo, California |
|
Area served
|
Arizona, California, Nevada |
|
Key people
|
Jim Keys CEO |
| Products |
Groceries General Merchandise |
| Parent | Tesco (2007–2013) |
| Website | www |
Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market was a chain of grocery stores in the western United States, headquartered in El Segundo, California. It was a subsidiary of Tesco, the world's third largest retailer, based in the United Kingdom, until November 2013 when it was purchased by Yucaipa Companies. It had plans for rapid growth – the first stores opened in November 2007 and, after a pause in the second quarter of 2008, the opening program recommenced. While there were over 200 stores in Arizona, California, and Nevada by December 2012, Tesco confirmed in April 2013 that it was pulling out of the US market, at a reported cost of £1.2 billion. On September 10, 2013, Tesco announced they were transferring ownership and operations of more than 150 stores to supermarket-owner Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Companies group. At the beginning of October 2013, Fresh & Easy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in U.S. bankruptcy court. The sale cost Tesco £150m, taking the total cost of its failed US venture to nearly £2bn. On October 23, 2015, Yucaipa announced that it would close all Fresh & Easy stores.
On October 30, 2015, Fresh & Easy filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy for the second time in two years.
On February 9, 2006, Tesco announced that it planned to move into the United States by opening a chain of small format grocery stores in three Western states (Arizona, California and Nevada) in 2007 named Fresh & Easy. The initial planned capital expenditure was up to £250m ($436m) per year. After Tesco CEO Terry Leahy announced serious resources had been committed to developing a format that would be popular with American consumers, investors responded with some skepticism with a small drop in the company's share price. The markets were expected to be around 1,400 square metres (15,000 sq ft)—good-sized supermarkets in many countries, but about one-third the size of an average supermarket within the US. By January 2007, Tesco opened its U.S. headquarters in El Segundo, California, near Los Angeles International Airport. The company initially expanded into Southern California, Phoenix, Arizona, and Las Vegas, Nevada.
...
Wikipedia