The co-ops next competitor? The local formula store ordinance doesn't
apply to grocery stores.
Tesco, Britain’s biggest retailer, will open small grocery stores in
the United States this year to focus on ready-to-eat meals and fresh
and environmentally friendly products.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18441364/
Tesco has been keeping mum. Britain’s biggest supermarket chain and the
world's fifth-largest retailer
is set
to make its first foray overseas by entering the U.S. market, opening
stores in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Diego under the name
Fresh & Easy later this year. (See: “
Tesco
Profits Sparkle As U.S. Start-Up Costs Rise”)
http://www.forbes.com/markets/2007/05/01/tesco-coles-bid-markets-equity-cx_vk_0501markets2.html
Tesco also said its plans to open its first stores in Los Angeles,
Phoenix, Las Vegas and San Diego, under the name "Fresh & Easy,"
later this year were on track. However, start-up costs in the U.S. had
increased to £65 million ($130 million) from £20 million ($40 million)
for the current financial year. The company has said in the past that
it intends to spend £250 million ($500 million) on its U.S. operations
each year. (See
"Trailblazing
Tesco.")
http://www.forbes.com/markets/2007/04/17/tesco-earnings-update-markets-equity-cx_po_0417markets22.html
Next year it will open a chain of small, 14,000-square-foot convenience
stores in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada. Tesco (otcbb:
TSCDY -
news -
people )
aims for the chain, which is based on its "Express" format of small
grocery outlets for Britain's busy professionals and will reportedly be
called “Fresh & Easy,” to break even after two years in operation.
Industry watchers are betting the stores will sell fresh vegetables and
fruit, include a delicatessen and have parking spaces for around 70
cars.
Fresh, healthy food and quick service may be a winning strategy in
Tesco's attempt to stand out in the market and appeal to local
customers, says John Cutler, operations director of management
consultancy Culturewise.
Another challenge: A rival from overseas with surprisingly similar
plans.
FamilyMart,
Japan’s third biggest convenience store chain after Seven-Eleven Japan
and Lawson, is already setting up six convenience stores in California
with a view to grow that to 250 by the end of 2009.
Operating
under the name "Famima!!," the stores are billed as a combination of
grocer, restaurant, neighborhood deli and convenience store, “tailored
to the savvy American consumer that appreciates the finer things in
everyday life."
Based in West Hollywood, the shops peddle sushi and a host of other
products aimed at the area's large Asian community.
http://www.forbes.com/2006/12/02/tesco-retail-grocery-biz-cx_po_1205uk40_tesco.html
