February 5, 2013
Fresh & Easy is Open and Planning to Stay That Way
Tesco may be considering its alternatives when it comes to doing business in the U.S., but the company’s Fresh & Easy division wants its shoppers to know there’s no reason for them to be looking elsewhere to shop.
According to the Fresh & Easy website, the company sent an e-mail on January 31st to clarify "stories circulating about our stores."
The e-mail said, "We want to assure you: we don’t have plans to close stores. We’re still committed to providing delicious, wholesome and affordable food every day. We’re still Fresh & Easy; open for business with everything that you enjoy about our store, with even more exciting things to come. That’s why we’re going to keep on fighting the good food fight."
Many remain skeptical of Fresh & Easy’s future prospects.
Bob Goldin, executive vice president at Technomic, told Southern California Public Radio that the chain has not connected with consumers through its selection or prices. He thinks that a chain such as Dollar General may be interested in acquiring Fresh & Easy sites.
"I think if anyone were to do it, they would be converting the banner [and] rebranding them," Mr. Goldin said.
Tesco is expected to provide an update on its Fresh & Easy plans in April when it reports on its fiscal year.
BrainTrust
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
What do you make of Fresh & Easy’s e-mail to customers concerning its plans to keep stores open? Can the chain’s missteps be corrected so that it has a future, owned by Tesco or not, in the U.S.?
Poll
With negative financial reports and rumors swirling, Tesco had to do something to reassure customers, otherwise the demise of Fresh & Easy might not have been premature.
If nothing else, the email may buy a little time for Tesco to reposition the store or prepare it for sale.
Fresh & Easy is a brand without a core story. The chain does not live up to its name. It’s caught in the middle between low-priced dollar stores and traditional grocers. Without a strong core story, like Trader Joe’s, it has not built a loyal customer base.
Emails like the one Fresh & Easy sent can backfire. I can only assume a handful of consumers knew or were even concerned with the possibility of Fresh & Easy closing. Now most consumers know and they may start making the transition away before they “go under.”
The other side of this coin is the email could build consumer support. If they have enough of a following, consumers may help fight to keep the chain open and the model the same. This only happens when you have enough key differentiators that consumers feel they can’t live without you. Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, in my opinion, would get this type of support. Fresh & Easy may have a tougher time since they have not really found their niche.
What else are they going to say? “Hi, we’re getting ready to close our stores as soon as we can sell them but please keep shopping us in the meantime”? They might have been better off with friendly news articles dismissing the rumors. Especially if not everyone knew they were having problems.
Dammed if you do. Dammed if you don’t. That is the position Fresh & Easy finds itself in. Some customers are certainly aware that they may be closing and others might not be. What to do?
They took a logical step and said hey we are open and not going anywhere. Our stores are open and will remain so. This should be viewed as a proactive move on their part to save what business they have.
As a very loyal Fresh & Easy shopper, I sure hope it works. I used to shop for 80% of my foods at Trader Joe’s and couldn’t conceive of switching! But now I go to TJ just to get their branded items I prefer and spend close to 70% of my grocery dollar at a Fresh & Easy store with fresh bakery. If one is a cost conscious foodie who wants fresh fruits and veggies along with ease of shopping, I truly believe Fresh & Easy has a niche and has a wider array than TJ’s. They also offer a wide array of fresh fish and meats—way broader than TJ’s. If one is just shopping frozen foods and prepared foods in the center of the store, perhaps F&E is not the choice.
By the way, my conversion took a while. My first several visits to Fresh & Easy left me wondering… What are they thinkin’? But the fresh bakery and exploring the options, “checking under the hood” so to speak finally convinced me. So I now have a wide array of Fresh & Easy brand items I prefer over TJ’s or national brands.
I also love their Friends program. Easy to use and lots of savings.
So if Anyone from Tesco is reading this – PLEASE KEEP TRYING. IF ALL YOUR STORES WERE LIKE YOUR PALM SPRINGS STORE – you’d be a winner. And this brings me to my real estate point. In my opinion, many of the Fresh & Easy stores appear to be in poor sites. I’ve been in retail leasing and investment for 35 years and some of the stores I’ve seen are in poorly conceived locations. So my suggestion for Tesco – keep trying and improve your site selection….
Seems to me the best approach would have been establishing (reiterating?) why it is the place to shop and providing reasons (factual AND emotional) to shop there. As a shopper, I might have an issue with a retailer potentially going out of business/selling if I was concerned about service or returns. For a grocer—less so.
So, I would emphasize WHY “we” are the place to shop, how we help you improve your life, what we offer that others do not, etc. Leave the ledger discussions to the boardroom. If you are talking to me as a shopper, lay out for me why I should continue/start spending my money with you. If your answer is, “we are not out of business (yet)—I am not overly motivated to spend with you.
I think most of the stores will not survive. Mostly for reasons we have discussed over and over again. Quite simply one of the worst, most amateurish attempts we have ever seen in the industry.
Tesco has nothing to lose by telling customers and employees that they have no plans to exit. That is standard practice in retail, or in any business. Why give the customer another excuse to start looking for another store to shop? The whole point to to keep employees and customers from abandoning ship. Otherwise the chain will see itself implode too fast.
I think I have to disagree with David on this one: with the economy in the kind of hyperdrive it’s been in the past few years, it’s only a matter of time before people trying to escape the crowded confines of the Walmarts and Krogers of the world stumble upon these DIY full-selection (but-not-really) gems…even if only because they’re using FE’s parking lot to go to some other store.
You really have to feel sorry for management at this point. They tried a new concept, but it wasn’t as innovative or as well received as they thought/hoped. Now, it is desperation time. It would be much better to do whatever they can to keep the ship afloat, without sending out notices to passengers and potential passengers that the ship might be sinking.
Probably the only move to be made is to keep stores on track. The loyal shoppers will rally their friends, while the secondary shoppers will keep their eyes on the aisle to see if things change during this time of uncertainty. Both groups are important if Tesco is to continue in a limited way or if converted to another chain. Not saying anything would likely frustrate or alienate interested consumers.
May be be possible to correct missteps, but concept needs a more relevant assortment; as well, location issues are huge.
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With negative financial reports and rumors swirling, Tesco had to do something to reassure customers, otherwise the demise of Fresh & Easy might not have been premature.
If nothing else, the email may buy a little time for Tesco to reposition the store or prepare it for sale.
Fresh & Easy is a brand without a core story. The chain does not live up to its name. It’s caught in the middle between low-priced dollar stores and traditional grocers. Without a strong core story, like Trader Joe’s, it has not built a loyal customer base.
Emails like the one Fresh & Easy sent can backfire. I can only assume a handful of consumers knew or were even concerned with the possibility of Fresh & Easy closing. Now most consumers know and they may start making the transition away before they “go under.”
The other side of this coin is the email could build consumer support. If they have enough of a following, consumers may help fight to keep the chain open and the model the same. This only happens when you have enough key differentiators that consumers feel they can’t live without you. Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods, in my opinion, would get this type of support. Fresh & Easy may have a tougher time since they have not really found their niche.
What else are they going to say? “Hi, we’re getting ready to close our stores as soon as we can sell them but please keep shopping us in the meantime”? They might have been better off with friendly news articles dismissing the rumors. Especially if not everyone knew they were having problems.
Dammed if you do. Dammed if you don’t. That is the position Fresh & Easy finds itself in. Some customers are certainly aware that they may be closing and others might not be. What to do?
They took a logical step and said hey we are open and not going anywhere. Our stores are open and will remain so. This should be viewed as a proactive move on their part to save what business they have.
As a very loyal Fresh & Easy shopper, I sure hope it works. I used to shop for 80% of my foods at Trader Joe’s and couldn’t conceive of switching! But now I go to TJ just to get their branded items I prefer and spend close to 70% of my grocery dollar at a Fresh & Easy store with fresh bakery. If one is a cost conscious foodie who wants fresh fruits and veggies along with ease of shopping, I truly believe Fresh & Easy has a niche and has a wider array than TJ’s. They also offer a wide array of fresh fish and meats—way broader than TJ’s. If one is just shopping frozen foods and prepared foods in the center of the store, perhaps F&E is not the choice.
By the way, my conversion took a while. My first several visits to Fresh & Easy left me wondering… What are they thinkin’? But the fresh bakery and exploring the options, “checking under the hood” so to speak finally convinced me. So I now have a wide array of Fresh & Easy brand items I prefer over TJ’s or national brands.
I also love their Friends program. Easy to use and lots of savings.
So if Anyone from Tesco is reading this – PLEASE KEEP TRYING. IF ALL YOUR STORES WERE LIKE YOUR PALM SPRINGS STORE – you’d be a winner. And this brings me to my real estate point. In my opinion, many of the Fresh & Easy stores appear to be in poor sites. I’ve been in retail leasing and investment for 35 years and some of the stores I’ve seen are in poorly conceived locations. So my suggestion for Tesco – keep trying and improve your site selection….
Seems to me the best approach would have been establishing (reiterating?) why it is the place to shop and providing reasons (factual AND emotional) to shop there. As a shopper, I might have an issue with a retailer potentially going out of business/selling if I was concerned about service or returns. For a grocer—less so.
So, I would emphasize WHY “we” are the place to shop, how we help you improve your life, what we offer that others do not, etc. Leave the ledger discussions to the boardroom. If you are talking to me as a shopper, lay out for me why I should continue/start spending my money with you. If your answer is, “we are not out of business (yet)—I am not overly motivated to spend with you.
I think most of the stores will not survive. Mostly for reasons we have discussed over and over again. Quite simply one of the worst, most amateurish attempts we have ever seen in the industry.
Tesco has nothing to lose by telling customers and employees that they have no plans to exit. That is standard practice in retail, or in any business. Why give the customer another excuse to start looking for another store to shop? The whole point to to keep employees and customers from abandoning ship. Otherwise the chain will see itself implode too fast.
I think I have to disagree with David on this one: with the economy in the kind of hyperdrive it’s been in the past few years, it’s only a matter of time before people trying to escape the crowded confines of the Walmarts and Krogers of the world stumble upon these DIY full-selection (but-not-really) gems…even if only because they’re using FE’s parking lot to go to some other store.
You really have to feel sorry for management at this point. They tried a new concept, but it wasn’t as innovative or as well received as they thought/hoped. Now, it is desperation time. It would be much better to do whatever they can to keep the ship afloat, without sending out notices to passengers and potential passengers that the ship might be sinking.
Probably the only move to be made is to keep stores on track. The loyal shoppers will rally their friends, while the secondary shoppers will keep their eyes on the aisle to see if things change during this time of uncertainty. Both groups are important if Tesco is to continue in a limited way or if converted to another chain. Not saying anything would likely frustrate or alienate interested consumers.
May be be possible to correct missteps, but concept needs a more relevant assortment; as well, location issues are huge.