Small-Format Food Retailing Memo: Hard Times at Tesco's Fresh & Easy; Will Two Proposed Changes Help? Meanwhile the Grocer Opens its 100th Store

Tesco's small-format Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market USA grocery and fresh foods chain is postponing its plans to begin opening stores in Northern California in early 2009.

Read a report and analysis from the Fresh & Easy Buzz Blog on the development at the link below:

>Fresh & Easy Buzz, Wednesday, November 12, 2008: Analysis: Hard Times at Fresh & Easy - Northern California Expansion to Be Postponed or Shelved Do to Economy; But its Only a Symptom Not the Cause

Additionally, Fresh & Easy Buzz reports Tesco's Fresh & Easy is considering making two major changes -- flip flopping the grocery shelving in all of its stores and redesigning the packaging of its fresh & easy private label packaged goods products -- as a way to increase both store sales and sales of its store brand products in the various grocery products categories.

Read the story from Fresh & Easy Buzz at the link below:

Fresh & Easy Buzz, Wedneday, November 12, 2008: Breaking News: Tesco's Fresh & Easy Considering Two Major Changes, One Physical the Other Design Oriented, to Increase Sales in its 100 Stores

Lastly, Fresh & Easy Buzz has a piece from yesterday about Tesco opening its 100th small-format, convenience-oriented Fresh & Easy market in the Southern California city of Fullerton. It's been about one year since the first Fresh & Easy store officially opened in Hemet, in Southern California.

In its story yesterday, Fresh & Easy Buzz suggested Tesco might postpone the opening of its planned Northern California stores, along with opening the stores later in the year than it has previously said it would.

Read the piece from Fresh & Easy Buzz at the link below:

>Fresh & Easy Buzz, Tuesday, November 11, 2008: Southern California Market Report: Tesco Hits A Numerical Milestone Tomorrow Morning As Store Number 100 Opens its Doors in Fullerton, California

Speaking of it being nearly one year since the first Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market store opened, that first Fresh & Easy store in Hemet, California was actually scheduled to open on November 8, 2007 its official opening day. However, as Natural~Specialty Foods Memo was one of the first publications to report, Tesco actually opened the store a week earlier in a stealth, soft opening to test the first of its small-format markets out prior to its official grand opening. on November 8, 2007.

You can read our piece about that stealth opening at the link below:

>Natural~Specialty Foods Memo, November 2, 2007: Breaking News: First Fresh & Easy Market Opens A Week Early: The Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market in Hemet, California is open for business a week before it's official grand opening date of November 8.