The Compton Bulletin Online

Last Updated 2/6/08

Teacher Put on Administrative Leave After Alleged Misconduct

Kitchen Repairs at McNair Elementary Complete

Compton Strikes Deal to Buy Water from Bellflower

CUSD Unsure if Local Schools Affected by Chino Meat Scare

El Camino College Compton Center to Host Free Financial Aid Event

City to Host Enterprise Zone Roll-out Seminar

Angels for Sight Partners With Insurance Provider to Give the Gift of Sight

Local Female Students Ponder Future in Engineering

More Than 2 Years After Her Death, Parks to be Inducted Into Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame

Joseph Phillips:
Becoming an Obamacan

Classifieds

SEARCH our archives

HOME

Fresh & Easy Grocery Market Opening Compton Location
Store emphasizing convenience and fresh, wholesome foods opens its doors tomorrow

By Allison Jean Eaton
Bulletin Staff Writer

COMPTON – Residents will be treated to a fresh approach in grocery shopping when a Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market opens its doors here tomorrow, Feb. 7.

A subsidiary of U.K.-based Tesco, one of the world’s largest international retailers, Fresh & Easy stores offer a shopping experience similar to that of Trader Joe’s stores.

The new market at 2175 W. Rosecrans Avenue is situated behind Rite Aid on the corner of Rosecrans and Central Avenue. The 10,000 square feet of shopping space offers an array of what the company calls wholesome, nutritious food products.

The chain emphasizes fresh organic products, take-home meals and private label products with a limited selection of national brand goods.

“Our private brand has no artificial colors or flavors, no added trans fats and only uses preservatives where absolutely necessary,” said John Burry, Fresh & Easy’s chief commercial officer.

Fresh & Easy guarantees its eggs come from cage-free chickens and that its meats and fish are hormone-free. Milk and butter comes from cows that have not been treated with rBST. Produce is packed, dated and delivered to each store daily. All poultry and 60 percent of all produce are supplied from within California.

At roughly one-fifth the size of a typical supermarket, each store is designed to speed up the shopping experience with extra-wide aisles and self-checkout stands. All items, even produce, feature what the company bills as an easy-to-find barcode for simplicity in scanning.

Customers wishing to try out featured products and obtain recipe suggestions can visit the Kitchen Table, an area in each store where taste-test portions are served up for free.

The U.S.-arm of Britain’s largest grocery chain, Fresh & Easy has already opened 37 stores throughout Southern California, Nevada and Arizona and plans to have a total of 50 up and running nationwide by the end of February. The most recent store opened in Hollywood on Jan. 23.

With more than 3,200 stores in 12 countries and 40,000 employees worldwide, the company has pledged to spend $2 billion in the next five years to open as many as 300 stores in America.

In some neighborhoods, the stores have drawn criticism from community groups and union workers who have picketed in front of some Fresh & Easy stores to protest the company’s non-unionized workforce.

But the company says it plans to take care of its employees, offering even part-time workers benefits.

The Compton store will employ approximately 20 to 30 people who will work a minimum if 20 hours per week. Entry-level positions will start at $10 per hour and include a quarterly bonus of 10 percent, said Bryan Pugh, Fresh & Easy’s chief operations officer.

All employees are eligible for a comprehensive benefits package featuring affordable health care including medical, prescription, dental and vision coverage, the cost of which the company will pay at least 75 percent, Pugh said. Additionally, employees will be eligible for a 401-k retirement plan with company match and a paid time off plan. Life skills training will also be provided.

The grocer pledges to be a “green” corporate citizen, too.

The store’s structure contains extra insulation, translating into lower heating and cooling costs. Its exterior signage and freezer cases are lit with LED lighting, which consumes significantly less energy than fluorescents. Skylights and lights that dim automatically when enough natural light is present further chock up energy efficiency.

In-store recycling services will be provided to customers and employees, and the store recycles and reuses all of its display and shipping materials. It does not use Styrofoam and sells only energy-efficient light bulbs.

Relative to shopping bags, customers have several choices. Cotton bags are available for purchase, as are reusable plastic bags made of a thicker plastic than regular plastic shopping bags for 20 cents each. If the bag ever wears out, Fresh & Easy will replace it for free. Its regular shopping bags are made from 50 percent recycled plastic.

Although located about a block away from Food 4 Less, the Compton store and several others cropping up in low-income areas countywide are expected to further address what’s been dubbed the “grocery gap” found in south Los Angeles and in urban areas across America.

“Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market stores are designed for everyone, and we’re putting stores into all types of neighborhoods, including those traditionally underserved by modern food stores,” said Simon Uwins, Fresh & Easy’s chief marketing officer.

Per capita, inner city neighborhoods have fewer supermarkets than do more affluent communities, meaning residents here must travel farther to grocery shop or pay more for food at smaller, local stores with less access to fresh meats, fruits and vegetables.

This and the preponderance of fast-food chains in the neighborhood literally feed into the community’s health problems, which are illustrated in higher-than-average rates of, among others, obesity and diabetes.