Fresh & Easy, the grocery chain that has struggled for years in California, said Wednesday that it was closing its business – but holding out hope for a buyer.
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Fresh & Easys 110 workers at its Hamilton Avenue headquarters will be released gradually within the next four weeks, said a worker there who requested anonymity.
“Over the last two years, we have been working hard to build a new Fresh & Easy”, according to the company.
They had made a huge splash back in 2007 when they received backing from Tesco, the British supermarket chain.
The small store format had been aimed at consumers who could simply pick up a few fresh food while going home for dinner. This is despite the company’s progress over the last couple of years that has moved it “closer to break even”.
Grocery billionaire Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Cos. bought the chain in 2013 after it sought bankruptcy protection, but could not reverse the chain’s fortunes.
At one time, there were 24 Fresh & Easy stores in Arizona. The Fresh & easy grocery chain has been a financial failure since it opened its first store in 2007. Rosenblum believes that most Fresh & Easy outlets are situated in good places where they are likely to be sold quickly. Theres a store by my house in Long Beach and theyre friendly there, too..
In honor of Vegetarian Awareness Month weve reduced our meat and poultry inventory, it read.
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After Tesco suffered a loss in the venture and underwent its own series of problems in the United Kingdom, including changes in direction, boardroom shuffles of its CEOs, an accounting scandal, closures of under-performing out-of-town stores and its value plummeting, it cut its losses and bailed after the US store Fresh & Easy fell into bankruptcy. Fresh & Easy heavily miscalculated the infrastructure budget to even be successful, or so the Craig Rosenblum, a grocery analyst at Willard Bishop believes.
