In November 2013, Tesco sold Fresh and Easy supermarkets to Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Companies and they proceeded to raise prices, cut out the weekly discount coupon and basically trash everything that was good about shopping there.
Fresh and Easy was my favorite supermarket. It was owned by U.K. Based, Tesco, the 3rd largest retailer in terms of sales, in Arizona, California and Nevada. The chain boasted 160 stores plus a distribution center and production center in Riverside, California and corporate office in El Segundo, California. They did $650 million in revenue and employed 5,000 people as reported by Time magazine.
I Loved Fresh and Easy BEFORE Tesco “sold” out
“Fresh and Easy” WAS a really nice place to shop, it doesn’t have any cashiers, just self-service checkout which I love. I really can’t stand dealing with a store clerk and always try to avoid any type of interaction with any employee at any store. They slow my process and cost me time. I can scan my own items and bag my own groceries, thank you very much. “Fresh and Easy” was my stop for fresh produce, meats, seafood, dairy and staple items. They also had a wide selection of “Heat and Eat” dinners, “ready-made” sides and really good pizzas. All at affordable prices and each week in the circular they had a $5 coupon if you spent $25. As the sign says, it was fresh and easy.
Tesco GIVES “Fresh and Easy” to Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Companies
As reported by The Wall Street Journal. Tesco GAVE “Fresh and Easy” to Yucaipa Companies. Didn’t get a dime, but actually had to pay Yucaipa $235 Million dollars for Yucaipa Companies to take the chain of food stores off Tesco’s hands. Yucaipa has stakes in Whole Foods, Wild Oats and A&P as reported by the La Times, in the article, “Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa buying Fresh & Easy stores from Tesco. ” So, this isn’t his first rodeo in the food retailing world. But I can tell ya this now, he isn;t making the 8 second horn riding this bull.
A Sad Thanksgiving for Fresh and Easy
When this “liquidations sale” was happening in November of 2013, Fresh and Easy was posting the news of course on it’s website but I found it interesting that when I went into the store employees steered away from making any comment. It was kind of surreal in a way. Yucaipa has been operating the chain for 6 months now and I feel they have had more than enough time and I can review them fairly and tell them exactly why, I HATE Fresh and Easy!!!!!
I HATE Fresh and Easy!!!!!
Hate is such a strong word. I rarely use it but in this case it is the perfect word to describe my feelings about the store. I live roughly 1 mile from Fresh and Easy and it was basically impossible for me to NOT go in if I was in the area. Since I live so close, I am always in the area and always going in. Now I barely go. I actually drive past Fresh and Easy and drive an additional 5 miles to go to Walmart or Albertson’s to get my groceries. I do occasionally pop in to Fresh and Easy but it is just to pick up Coffee, Creamer, and a Hershey’s bar with Almonds,(I love them).
Fresh and Easy changes for the worse
First off, The stores are now open 24 hours a day. Good, if you live in Las Vegas, but unnecessary if Ron Burkle and his team of marketing dunces didn’t screw this transition and alienate everyone I know. “Fresh and Easy” stopped the $5 coupon. They stopped the free turkey with $50 purchase at Thanksgiving. To be fair, they offered it after Thanksgiving to unload what they couldn’t sell at an outrageous price before the holiday. By the 1 st week after Tesco sold to Yucaipa, they raised the prices 15-40% across the board on almost every item in the store. I can prove it as well, The pizza’s went from $3.99 to $4.99, Hershey’s Chocolate bar was $1.49 to $1.69, Tilapia went from $5.99 to $8.99, Heat and Heat Wings were 2/$7, now $6.99 each. The heat and eat BBQ Ribs, so delicious at $4.99, now $7.99. Fresh and Easy TV dinners were $1.99, now $2.19. I refuse to pay that “purely profit price increase,” to help Ron Burkle pay for the liabilities Yucaipa Companies assumed when they agreed to get hundreds of millions of dollars for accepting “Fresh and Easy” into his business conglomerate
My friends and I will help Fresh and Easy go out of business
This is gonna be simple and I can imagine a nice shoe store in place of the “Fresh and Easy.” We will sit and watch Ron Burkle turn this business into ash. I talk with a lot of people and the sentiment is the same. Fresh and Easy is a rip-off place to shop now. They sell overpriced food whereas anyone can go a few miles down the road and get the product, in some cases, at almost a 50% savings. I used to go to “Fresh and Easy” and always asked myself, “What else do I need?”, now I ask, “Do I really need that?” as I put it back on the shelf. I used to keep track of the points I accumulated and use those points for paper products, now I buy that stuff at Walmart. Hey, Ron Burkle, You need me, I don’t need you.
JibbJabber 