Politics & Government

Fresh & Easy May Close Stores

The British-based grocery chain prepares to pull the plug on its 199 U.S. supermarkets. Offers to buy the chain are already surfacing.

 

The British are leaving, the British are leaving!

Fresh & Easy stores in California and beyond will soon be sold or closed, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Find out what's happening in San Mateowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Owned by Britain's Tesco, the 199-market grocery chain never quite caught on with American consumers.

Analysts said the recession was partly to blame—Fresh & Easy debuted in California, Nevada and Arizona in 2007, just as the economy was tanking. But, ultimately, shoppers didn't warm to the concept.

Find out what's happening in San Mateowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Though it attracted a small group of loyalists, Fresh & Easy largely failed to capture the imagination of American consumers who proved unaccustomed to British-style ready meals, self-service cash registers and unfamiliar store layouts," the Journal said.

Tesco's CEO told the paper: "It's likely, but not certain, that our presence in America will come to an end."

Offers to buy all or part of the chain are already trickling in, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.

In the San Francisco Bay Area, Fresh & Easy's locations include Mountain View, Pacifica, Napa, Sunnyvale, two in Hayward and three each in San Jose and San Francisco.

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