Fresh & Easy Plans Fresh Stores, Products
Despite posting significant
operating losses in fiscal 2008, regional small-format grocery retailer Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market will open four new stores in July 2009. All four stores will open in California and Fresh & Easy expects to create more than 80 new jobs as a result.
In addition to opening four new stores, Fresh & Easy also plans to introduce more than 1,000 new products this summer. These will include private-label goods, larger pack sizes, an expanded range of national brands, and exclusive new lines of national brand items. New stores will open with many of the new products and have extra and redesigned shelf space to accommodate them.
With its planned new private-label and exclusive goods, Fresh & Easy is capitalizing on the rapid success of a line of store brand
prepared meals released in March 2009. The meals, designed to feed a family of four for $8, had already become top-sellers in Fresh & Easy’s current range of 110 private label products by May 2009.
Wegmans, a 72-unit supermarket retailer operating in the mid-Atlantic and Northeast U.S., announced plans to open
three new stores earlier this week. Both Fresh & Easy and Wegmans are expanding at a time of mixed economic signals in the supermarket/grocery vertical, especially for smaller regional chains.
A
recent study on the food shopping habits of U.S. women by Better Homes and Gardens reveals that 60% of respondents shop each week at a traditional supermarket. However, the study also indicates that bulk food shopping and private label goods are increasingly popular, which is a good sign for non-supermarket food retailers such as discounters and wholesale clubs.
A number of retailers operating outside the supermarket/grocery vertical are expanding or entering the food/CPG sales area. Discount retailer Family Dollar increased its selling space devoted to
food and consumables last month. In addition, toy retailer Toys R Us recently began
piloting a department called R Market that offers packaged food and CPG goods at select locations in the Chicago, IL area. Convenience retailer
7-Eleven and discount retailer
Wal-Mart are both expanding their assortments of private label food and CPG goods this year. And discount retailer Target announced plans to
enhance its assortment of dry, dairy and frozen food products, and add perishable goods to its product mix, in February.
Larger supermarket retailers have been posting varied fiscal 2008 financial results. A&P reported an
operating loss of $87 million, although sales grew 48%. Kroger saw
sales increase 8% and earnings increase 5%, while Publix saw
sales rise 4% and earnings decrease 8%, but remain $1.1 billion in the black. Delhaize America’s
sales grew 5.9% and earnings climbed 3.6%.
Supervalu
posted net losses of $201 million in Q4 2008 and $2.9 billion in fiscal 2008, although net sales slightly improved during those periods.
Several smaller regional supermarket and grocery retailers have been experiencing difficulty this year. Bi-Lo is operating under
Chapter 11 bankruptcy, while Southern Family Markets
purchased Bruno’s at a bankruptcy auction and liquidated almost half of its stores.
Fresh & Easy, a subsidiary of UK retailer Tesco, operates 120 stores in California, Arizona and Nevada.
