Fresh & Easy Cuts Real Estate Positions

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market here said Thursday it has eliminated "a small number of positions — less than 40" — as its parent company undertakes a strategic review to exit the U.S.

The jobs are in the area of real estate, store design and recruitment, a chain spokesman told SN, "as we shift away from growth and expansion while keeping our stores open for business as usual."

Fresh & Easy, the U.S. arm of United Kingdom-based Tesco, operates 200 stores in California, Arizona and Nevada. Tesco said in December it was considering exiting the U.S. by closing or selling all the stores, with an announcement expected when it holds its annual meeting in April.

Read more: Tesco Looks for U.S. Exit

Fresh & Easy eliminated 45 positions last July, most involving property development, "as we shifted away from a robust store opening program," the spokesman said. He said the company still employs about 200 people at its offices here.

People whose jobs were eliminated will receive a severance package that includes four weeks of pay for every year employed, Cobra coverage for six months and outplacement services, the spokesman said.

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Discuss this Article 2

OscarNunez
on Jan 18, 2013

I love Tesco.
I hope you stay in the U.S.
You changed our industry,
We are grateful for it,
We all became a little "Fresh & Easy",
The only thing your Tesco formula needs is to become a "destination all purpose store" the likes of Trader Joe's and others;

A "destination store" is one that houses all you need to feed your family,
your business lunch, and, any function.

It shouldn't take much to do it.

Best Wishes to Tesco & its family of employees.
From Hialeah, Greater Miami, Florida.

veteran
on Feb 13, 2013

Oscar, everyone is entitled to their opinions but you may want seriously back up your opinions with REAL knowledge if you want to be taken seriously.

Some your words:

"You changed our industry" (seriously? F&E did not even register a dent in ANY market they were in)

"a "destination all purpose store" the likes of Trader Joe's and others;" (completely incorrect………..TJ's is savvy "niche" operator)

"It shouldn't take much to do it." (Actually, it would take a substantial investment to correct the plethora of mistakes from the ground up)

"Destination all purpose store" or a generalist purposed store usually requires a MUCH larger footprint in order to deliver its purpose, profitably.

With few exceptions, you can't please everyone in 10,000 square feet (in your demographics) and make money.

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