Easy Come Easy Go?
updated: Dec 05, 2012, 8:20 PM

By Edhat Subscriber

Fresh & Easy may be closing down.

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

ROGER DODGER	2012-12-05 08:35 PM
BUMMER Don't close down I love your stores!
COMMENT 350733P	2012-12-05 08:47 PM
FTA: "I'm hoping somebody buys it, so we can stay employed," said Riverside location employee Charles Russell. "A lot of people are going to lose their jobs. ... A lot of people out there can't find jobs right now." I heard a report on Marketplace (on NPR) that Walmart may buy them. Hope Charles like working for that outfit, low wages, no bennies, etc....
COMMENT 350735	2012-12-05 08:53 PM
that was quick and easy!
COMMENT 350741P	2012-12-05 09:16 PM
They are for sale,". Not shutting down
D8VANILLA	2012-12-05 09:56 PM
I love their BBQ sauce. I guess I better stock-up on that. And, the kettle corn is great too.
COMMENT 350756P	2012-12-06 06:11 AM
I like them too, good prices for ground beef and some other meats, great fresh bakery!
COMMENT 350759P	2012-12-06 06:49 AM
There's a story about it in today's LAT. The owner, mega-conglomerate Tesco, is looking to close out of the US market. Judging by the weak quality Milpas store that would be no loss. Anyone know when there will be a new market at the former Scolaris?
COMMENT 350771	2012-12-06 07:24 AM
That was quick but NOT easy. We lost some great local stores to get crap food masquerading as 'healthy'. The consumers are not so easily hoodwinked.
COMMENT 350772	2012-12-06 07:24 AM
The couple of times I have been to F&E, I haven't been too impressed - one night there was some pasta that the packaging had broken open, but someone (employee, I assume) had taped it up and put it back on the shelf! Then I looked thru my cart and realized the bag of cheese I had picked up was open too!
COMMENT 350778	2012-12-06 07:38 AM
I love that store! Boo hoo! Fresh Market opening at old Scolari's late 2013.
COMMENT 350780	2012-12-06 07:42 AM
i better get some porridge and brown hp sauce before they close.
COMMENT 350781	2012-12-06 07:45 AM
Didn't F&E buy the old SB Motor Sports place in Goleta right off of Fairview & Callle Real? Wonder what is going to happen to this place?
COMMENT 350792	2012-12-06 08:11 AM
Does this mean we get Whitefoot back?
COMMENT 350799	2012-12-06 08:22 AM
733 - My understanding is that the parent company, Tesco, is the Walmart of the UK....
COMMENT 350802P	2012-12-06 08:34 AM
799, why does that not surprise me?
REXOFSB	2012-12-06 08:42 AM
@733: Actually, Tesco is more the Kroeger of the UK. Tesco and Sainsbury's are the two major UK supermarket chains, with Safeway a smaller player. Tesco (and Sainsbury's) offer good value and great items, but unlike Walmart, you don't really hear of unhappy employees or slave-like working conditions. Tesco and Sainsbury's are kind of like Ralphs and Albertsons--excellent markets, but pretty indistinguishable from one another. Since Trsco is the parent compny of Fresh & Easy, I'd expected a lot more from it. When it finally opened on Milpas Street, I realized that Trader Joe's was in no danger of being run out of business.
COMMENT 350809	2012-12-06 08:45 AM
I have to say, I went to fresh n easy and was bothered that its all self check out. There's only one employee there to help bag or if something goes wrong. That must be why their prices are so low, but is that a good thing? Think of all the businesses and jobs that use to be where that building is. We need jobs not cheap food at a price of job cuts. I find it rather ironic and awesome that their business failed. Less is not always more...
COMMENT 350816	2012-12-06 08:56 AM
I love F&E and am so tired of SB whiners!! I have been to several other stores in other cities and this one is just fine. No it's not Lazy Acres - but it's good and I don't mind self check out. WOW bunch of cry babies!!
ROGER DODGER	2012-12-06 09:02 AM
Self Check out rules in more ways than one.
COMMENT 350821	2012-12-06 09:04 AM
I'm going to miss the frozen sliced bell peppers - better stock up!
COMMENT 350827	2012-12-06 09:15 AM
I was fine with the self-checkout, and this single parent found their offerings to be spot-on for my needs. Trader Joe's is great, but the parking lot panhandlers and lack of community support were a turnoff. $10 off coupons, local staff, and great dinner packages made F&E my number one store. I'll be sad if they close.
COMMENT 350842	2012-12-06 09:39 AM
SB whiners? If giving an opinion about computers taking over jobs is whining to you then no wonder our country is so messed up. People are so lost in their tunnel vision of what's good for them. What about what's good for the community as a whole? The big picture is being missed here.
SHAGGY	2012-12-06 09:41 AM
Love Fresh and Easy,Simple, in and out, self check out a breeze,great parking,Nice mix of thier own brands and major brands as well. Ever since they opened I no longer go to Trader Joes. I hope they find a buyer ! Tesco is a very tough company, as owners go
COMMENT 350859	2012-12-06 09:51 AM
Companies like Tesco and Fresh and Easy market foods that came from farms and land stolen from Palestinian families.
COMMENT 350866	2012-12-06 10:09 AM
I hope they find a buyer! I absolutely love Fresh & Easy. Very Simple, Prices are just about the same as Trader Joe's. It's always bright and clean in there! And i love how ALL of their fridges are closed so it's not an ice box in there while you're shopping.
COMMENT 350875	2012-12-06 10:26 AM
59 BS!
COMMENT 350902	2012-12-06 11:34 AM
I miss whitefoot. There's no real butcher left in SB now...
COMMENT 350904P	2012-12-06 11:43 AM
We like F&E and hope they stay. The store is a positive addition to Milpas. Lots of unique items and frequent bargains if one shops carefully. Staff is helpful and it's always clean.
COMMENT 350913	2012-12-06 11:59 AM
Came to say what 350771 said. What a waste!
COMMENT 350959	2012-12-06 01:22 PM
I love F&E. Their pre-made low cost meals is how I survived college!
COMMENT 350960	2012-12-06 01:23 PM
Tesco is disappointed with the overall sales figures for their US venture. They are a profitable and successful company so it only makes sense that they would sell off their US stores and cut their losses. The reality is, looking at their overall sales etc., they could close all their US stores outright too- it would only have a minimal impact on their bottom line. We'll soon see.
COMMENT 350990P	2012-12-06 02:38 PM
Sent a query to F&E and got this reply: "Thank you for shopping at Fresh & Easy. We appreciate you reaching out to us. I am happy to hear that you love our stores. I do want to let you know that we are not looking to close. Although we are no longer affiliated with Tesco, we are going to continue our chain. Thank you for inquiring about this. Thank you for shopping at Fresh & Easy and we look forward to seeing you at a neighborhood market near you."
COMMENT 350993	2012-12-06 02:41 PM
??? If they're not longer affiliated with Tesco, how are they still in business? They're a chain owned by a parent company that hasn't sold them off yet. That confuses me.
COMMENT 351021	2012-12-06 03:19 PM
Their plan all along was to make a lot of stores, crash into the market and then sell. This is not a surprise, but the trouble was that they never made the money they thought they'd be making so nobody was interested in buying them out. I'd hate to seem the close so quickly after opening, but that's business!
COMMENT 351054	2012-12-06 04:38 PM
Story in the SB News Press said that they are going to build out the Goleta store. Good luck to them - more competition the better.
COMMENT 351068	2012-12-06 04:55 PM
I've never been in to the one on Milpas. It looks cheap through and through. I'm sick of big chains peddling crap, and I'd be happy if this one took a hike. I too miss Whitefoot. I'd like to see another tri-counties produce placed right there.
NEIGHBOR	2012-12-06 11:15 PM
The F&E in Lompoc has been here for quite a while now. Self check was a drag @first, but I've come to appreciate it. Quick in & out. They have great staples in their In-House products & an array of standard product brands. They don't stock every product & every brand, but F&E has become a great store that I will miss if they go away.

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