EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market here said yesterday that Jeff Adams has officially joined the U.S.-based management team as executive vice president of operations, a title he shares with Bryan Pugh. SN reported in March that Adams, who most recently ran Tesco’s Lotus banner in Thailand, was slated to join Fresh & Easy, although his role was unclear. A chain spokesman told SN yesterday that Adams will be on the same level as the rest of the U.S. management team, all of whom report to Tim Mason, Fresh & Easy's chief executive officer. The spokesman said Adams was added to the team to aid in the chain's expansion. Fresh & Easy put a temporary halt to that expansion in early April, when it opened its 61st store after a five-month rollout; it is scheduled to open its 62nd store in Manhattan Beach in Southern California on July 2, and anticipates opening approximately 140 more stores before the end of Tesco’s fiscal year in February 2009, the spokesman said. Adams, a native of West Virginia, has been with Tesco for 10 years.

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