Anyone know about these Fresh and Easy stores? They are going to put 60 of them in and around downtown Vegas as neighborhood markets. Apparently they are only in the SW. How can I get one to move into downtown Grand Rapids?
Moderator note:
(Dan) Copied from the RTDNTOTO thread in the Friday Afternoon Club
When compassion exceeds logic for too long, chaos will ensue. - Unknown
There's a growing discussion about the chain on a new urbanism mailing list. Some excerpts:
Las Vegas is the test market for western US. Tesco is rolling out 60--yes 60--Fresh and Easy stores in the Las Vegas metropolitan area (we are a city of 2,000,000+ now) over the next 30 months. Of those, already 12 stores are up and running. The format is a 14,000 SF corner market, and it is sited most often like a Walgreens. Most curious, they are going into older Tier 1 and Tier 2 neighborhood commercial centers, and causing the entire 45-135,000 SF center to revitalize with new tenants and new facades. They are also going into new, higher demographic, neighborhoods in brand new centers.I just heard that a Fresh and Easy is going into a 10,000 sf space in the downtown of my hometown Fresno, CA. This is very interesting, because downtown Fresno has a VERY low residential population and has struggled for decades to revitalize without success. The daytime population is decent, but nighttime and weekend activity is very meek. Walkability is rough, and transit is sparse.
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It will be very interesting to see if these guys succeed. They obviously have guts of steel, because nothing comparable would ever be willing to locate there. If they are willing to locate in Downtown Fresno, they will probably be willing to consider just about any downtown or town center. Perhaps this is good news for NU projects and old downtowns that have struggled to get grocery stores?Now that Tesco has mapped out that territory and is pursuing such an aggressive roll out strategy, it appears that that window of opportunity is quickly disappearing. So, from an urbanistic point of view, one could certainly view the arrival of Fresh and Easy's new neighborhood concept a welcome addition, but from a sustainability point of view, it may not turn out to be as complete a vindication of our principles as we might have hoped for.
Nonetheless, it should help with VMT and some of the other more immediate physical implications of building in a more compact, urban form, as well as making urban life more convenient and competitive with suburban living in the short term, all things considered. So, I think I'll weigh in with Steve that this should be considered a net positive development, overall, but it would be really great if their success (which I am predicting) will help encourage smaller, local and regional chains to launch preemptive strikes of their own, while they still can.
I may submit a request for a location as Economic Development Chair here in town.
Colorado may be ready? Would they be that aggresive?
Their neighborhood market concept would work well here and I have a couple sites in my commercial lot inventory. The size of their stores would be large enough to serve and sustain our town. I wonder what their pro formas indicate as a good population base.
You get all squeezed up inside/Like the days were carved in stone/You get all wired up inside/And it's bad to be alone
You can go out, you can take a ride/And when you get out on your own/You get all smoothed out inside/And it's good to be alone
-Peart
Several are already open in Phoenix and Southern California as well. They have announced about 30 locations in Northern California to open in the next 12-18 months. They are going into several extremely underserved (and violent) neighborhoods in Oakland and San Francisco.
I've been in one in Vegas and one near Pasadena in Southern Cal - about the size of a Trader Joe's, very spartan designs with all self-service checkouts. Prices are pretty low - I liked it overall.
Sounds like an Aldi, but it seems to be getting much more buzz. How is Fresh and Easy different than Aldi?Originally posted by CJC
What the hell!
I sent a property inquiry request on their website. We'll see what happens!
You get all squeezed up inside/Like the days were carved in stone/You get all wired up inside/And it's bad to be alone
You can go out, you can take a ride/And when you get out on your own/You get all smoothed out inside/And it's good to be alone
-Peart
Aldi sells a lot of discount products where Fresh and Easy sells mostly prepared foods. Aldi is for people trying to stretch a buck where Fresh and Easy is for DINKs.
Contrary to popular belief they are not locating in low income areas. The ones in Phoenix are in the middle and upper middle class neighborhoods. The orginally planned 27 stores in the Phoenix area but they just upped it to 37.
I apporached Freash and Easy a few months back about a location in our area and I was told our towns socio-economic status was lacking.
"If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less" General Eric Shinseki
They are grabbing hold here in Phoenix quite well, though there are none in Tempe yet surprisingly enough. They cater very well to my demographic (mid 20s, well-educated, not enough responsibility to have a real food budget), but I'm not sure about other demos. They do have reserved parking spaces for Hybrid's which is pretty nifty
"Try to be in two incredibly successful bands. If not, that's okay." -- Words to live by, courtesy of Dave Grohl
I've been to the one at Thomas and Dysart and I really liked it. The pre-prepared foods were great. Just pop them in the oven and easy dinner is done.
Dan, having been to both ALDI and Fresh and Easy, I can say they are clearly NOT a discount, pack your own bag, grocer. That being said, their prices are competitive and the store size is refreshingly small.
Dude, I'm cheesing so hard right now.
Agreed on the first point - it does seem primarily for DINKs and singles. I don't agree on the second point - yes, the majority are in middle and upper middle class areas, but they're also locating two stores in the Bayview district of San Francisco - a neighborhood that none of the major grocers will touch with a mile-long pole. All for show? Maybe, but hey - no other grocer would do it, including Safeway, a company that has built stores in other questionable neighborhoods in SF just as a way to get other stores approved (in the Western Addition, for those familiar with SF).
I am only speaking from the Phoenix prospective and in generalities. F and E has a few stores in lower income areas but the overwhelming amount of them are in middle to upper income neighborhoods. I think we have had this conversation before?
I am surprised that Safeway would not go into Bayview. They usually lead the way into these areas.
One thing I found interesting about FE was how everything was wrapped in plastic. You want 4 apples, they are pre-selected and hermetically sealed.
"If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less" General Eric Shinseki
I think we might have had this conversation before. I guess I'm looking at it this way - they are going into several neighborhoods NO other grocer would touch in the Bay Area. In Phoenix, there don't seem to be as many completely unserved neighborhoods (this coming from someone who only spends a couple weeks a year in Phoenix, so take it with a grain of salt) - Food City (division of Basha's) comes to mind as a grocer that often locates in lower income areas. In the more dense, "urban" low income areas of the Bay Area, there is no equivalent to a Food City. The more suburban areas of the Bay Area and all of the Central Valley have quite a few grocers that fill the void there, even in the lower income areas.
That being said - Both of the Bayview stores are going be part of a development with 3-4 stories of apartments or condos above, which tells me that the developer is giving Fresh and Easy a sweet leasing deal, in order to hopefully cruise through the approvals process a little easier - a way to appease the anti-gentrification activists.
Food City charters to the Hispanic market and often move into under utilized strip centers for very low rent. Bashas was really good about going into rural areas but they have gotten away from that practice.
PM me next time you are in the Phx area, I will pick up the first round ofWith enough notice The One might even make an appearance.
"If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less" General Eric Shinseki
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