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Store closings part of Fresh & Easy plan to reinvent convenience

March 25, 2015Written by George Anderson

It's easy to see this week's announcement that Fresh & Easy is closing 50 stores in three states as a sign that Yucaipa's ownership of the chain is going no better than it did under Tesco.

It would also be easy for many to say they were right when they scoffed at the idea that Yucaipa would succeed by turning Fresh & Easy into the "next-generation convenience retail experience" as promised back in September of 2013. On this site, 62 percent of those responding to a survey said Fresh & Easy was somewhat or very unlikely to succeed under Yucaipa ownership.

Still, Fresh & Easy management insists that it has not wavered in its goal of creating a new form of convenience store. In its announcement that it was closing stores, the company also touted accomplishments such as a re-launch of "an all-new fresh food concept" in Las Vegas as well as the rollout of Click & Collect in the city. The BOPIS service is being used as a test for a possible wider rollout in the future.

With the closings, management says Fresh & Easy will be in better position to remodel existing stores and open locations with the 3,000 to 5,000 square footprint that it believes will enable the stores to provide "a higher level of convenience." The company is working ADMI, the same firm behind the Apple Store, "to create the only fresh food convenience store" in the U.S.

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