ORANGE, CA—The newest Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market opened on Wednesday, Dec. 12 in the city of Orange. This brings the number of U.S. stores to 24 for U.K. parent company Tesco. The first four stores opened in Southern California on Nov. 8, 2007.
"This is a green store," said Paula Cramsey, Neighborhood Marketing Manager. "Over 70 percent of the produce is supplied locally." The store recycles or reuses all of its packaging. The produce comes in hard plastic crates that are refilled and reused from the distribution center. Even the store operations and construction is environmentally based according to their web site.
As part of Fresh and Easy's commitment to the community, they award a $1,000 donation to a local non-profit group upon the opening of each store. In Orange, Cindy Dobbins, representing the Friends of Orange County's Homeless Pets (FOCHP), accepted the check. FOCHP rescues and provides foster care until their mostly special need or hard to place animals find homes. They also help rehabilitate the animals as needed.
Mayor of Orange Carolyn Cavecche awarded a proclamation to the market and cut the ribbon for the grand opening. Along with the mayor, city council members Tita Smith and Denis Bilodeau also attended.
What Makes 'Fresh and Easy' Different?
According to Cramsey, Fresh and Easy listened to their customers. That's even how the name came about. They created a mock neighborhood market and asked the customers to describe their experience.
They narrowed down the selection to the best product selection. They widened the aisles to hold up to three carts across. They went into potential customers' homes to see their pantry and what they actually use.
"Anyone that needs food" is the target customer according to Cramsey. "It is basically like a convenient store with discount prices offering you wholesome food options." Fresh and Easy has organic foods, prepared meals, fresh produce, and even health and beauty items.
There are no promotions, just an "everyday low price" according to the biweekly sales flyer. Some products carry a green label with comparison prices of regular supermarkets. Yellow labels mark the location of flyer items.
Upper shelf height is lower than supermarkets by about 12 inches making it easier to navigate the top shelf. Checking out is fast and easy with the assisted check out stands. To overcome inexperience or for people that need assistance, staff are available to aid customers as needed.
Additional stores have opened in Arizona and Nevada with a goal of 150 to 200 by February 2009 according to Fresh and Easy Chief Human Resources Officer Hugh Cousins. Three stores will open in Arizona next week. The next store to open in California will be in Huntington Beach on Jan. 9, 2008.
A group of Fresh and Easy staff, including the CEO and anyone with decision making capabilities visits each potential site before the decision to locate a new store. According to Cousins, the staff at Fresh and Easy receives starting wages of $10.00 per hour. They also are eligible for 75 percent health coverage. All staff are eligible for benefits, and have a minimum of 20 hours work guaranteed weekly. They also have a 401K plan available.
To see if a store is coming to your neighborhood, visit their site. You can also vote for a local organization to be considered for the $1,000 award at future stores at: http://www.freshandeasy.com/charity_voting.aspx . The online voting period is available for about four weeks before the store opens. The top five or six nominated groups are forwarded to store staff and the final decision is determined by the new store employees' votes.
Need a Gift Idea? Support FOCHP's Mission
To help raise additional funds to provide foster homes and place homeless pets, FOCHP will have photos of pets with Santa at the Petsmart in the Tustin Marketplace at 2741 El Camino Real, Tustin on Saturday Dec. 15 and Sunday Dec. 16 from 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Five dollars from each photo taken will go directly to helping the animals of FOCHP. For more information about FOCHP or how to make a donation, contact them at (714) 280-4993, by email: friends@fochp.org or visit http://www.fochp.org
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