Fresh & Easy begins closing down stores

[Liberal_in_LA]

Source: latimes

Fresh & Easy, the grocery chain that has struggled for years in Southern California, said Wednesday that it was closing its business — but holding out hope for a buyer.

Brendan Wonnacott, spokesman for the El Segundo chain, said Fresh & Easy was starting “the process for an organized wind-down.”

The company operates 97 stores in California, Nevada and Arizona. The Southland is home to 54 locations.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fresh-and-easy-closing-20151021-story.html

[villager]

1. Heck, I kinda liked them. But their prices kept inching higher and higher...

...so that really the only things you could afford were on the mark-down racks. Except that they had really good mark-down racks...

Still, explains why the closer ones I used to go have been getting shuttered....

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. I pass by one daily. Never been inside

[SoapBox]

2. I loved Fresh & Easy.

They opened one just a couple minutes away. It was unique and the employees were energetic.

Eventually you could tell that the higher management was letting the business slide, along with bits and pieces the staff would discretely talk about. Still it was beyond convienent and saved me from driving further, to fight my way to Albertson's or Ralph's.

My store was one closed in the first big wave of closures...and now this. Too bad.

Then our Alberton's was involved in the Haagen deal...now, that store will most likely close.

Our options are fewer than they have ever been.

Terrible.

[yeoman6987]

4. If people don't go, shut it down

It costs a fortune to run a business today. I guess we'll survive. We must progress. Can you imagine if we still lived in a time with woolworths? Yieks! Thank god for progress.

[villager]

5. It's true, whenever I'm in the one or two remaining ones in the valley....

...it's like they're giving less of a damn, in terms of what used to make the place kinda interesting to go into.

And the one Haagen I was in, once, seemed ridiculous, in terms of prices. Couldn't figure out what they imagined the "draw" was.

Isn't the German chain Aldi coming to SoCal? They probably won't be as good as they are in Germany -- with 60 cent fresh croissants every morning -- but they might add a welcome twist...

[TexasBushwhacker]

11. Aldi is interesting

They have very low prices on things like milk and eggs to get people in the door - $1.99 for a gallon of milk and 99¢ eggs, at least here in Houston. A lot of their goods are their own private label. Produce quality is good, but the selection is quite limited. You have to bring your own bags and you have to put a quarter in their carts to use them, but then you get it back when you return it. It keeps them from to pay someone to gather carts in the parking lot, and it keeps stray carts from rolling and dinging cars.

[dembotoz]

13. if you are thinking aldi think discount grocer

fresh croissants every morning??? not so much
Think the only way that i could stretch my mothers very limited soc security food budget.
I did her shopping, switched to Aldi's and cut her weekly expenditures by a huge amount.
Kept her solvent.

think limited selection but generally ok quality.
Aldi's is my central store that i supplement with costco (god i love costco) and then other stores if i can not find what i need.

[villager]

15. I didn't realize they were already in the U.S.! I just liked the markets during my recent visit

...to Germany.

I used Lidl more than Aldi, but quickly became enamored of $3.00 bottles of Italian wine, $1.25 fresh baked loaves of bread, low-cost (and hormone-free!) cheeses, those fresh/cheap croissants, etc...

Yeah, I know. That was in Europe.....

[NBachers]

6. The ones in San Francisco have been closed for quite some time.

I take a guy home after work, and he used to stop off at one in his neighborhood. I started using it, too, out of convenience. I actually got to like the store, and the staff.

I didn't like the fact that all the check-out was self-service.

When it became obvious that the store was going to close, many of the poor staff members were openly despondent.

The store was in a good, captive location, and it always seemed busy. The "no cashier" model saved them money.

When store closures like this hit, I always wonder what the underlying story is. I somehow never think it's purely because the place isn't making money. But, I'm basically a working peasant, and the financial world these people occupy is beyond my experience.

[enid602]

7. F'n E

I live around the corner from what might be the only Fresh & Easy still left in PHX, at 12 St & Northern. It was purchased by a local outfit called 'Wild & Oats,' but still has the F'n Easy signage and concept. Imagine they're here to stay.

[Bluenorthwest]

9. Wild Oats is not really PHX local, it is a chain currently owned by the Yucaipa Companies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yucaipa_Companies

[Spitfire of ATJ]

8. Their business model sent too much to the suits.....

Fresh & Easy CEO buys $6.35-million home in Redondo Beach



Fresh & Easy Chief Executive Jim Keyes, who recently announced that the company will close about 50 of the neighborhood grocery stores, has purchased an oceanfront home in Redondo Beach for $6.35 million.

http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/hot-property/la-fi-hotprop-fresh-easy-ceo-20150326-story.html





More pictures of the property here:

http://www.abirdseye.com/platform/properties/709-esplanade/

[closeupready]

12. Wow, that house is spectacular.

$6.35M seems cheap.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

14. Not when you consider what the employees get.

[Liberal_in_LA]

16. Wow

[JI7]

18. very nice house. especially compared to a lot of the newer styles thst are making

for rich people

[JI7]

19. he was CEO of Blockbuster also

[Spitfire of ATJ]

20. And 7/11.

[JI7]

21. so 1 out of 3

Counts as success

[Spitfire of ATJ]

22. Other way around....

It's a "success" if you loot the company and still end up with a golden parachute.

7/11 was a "failure" because it hadn't been stripped of every nickel.

[Frank Cannon]

10. Named after your mother.

Seriously, though, I'm sorry to hear about this.

[JI7]

17. didn't like the self checkout