Fresh & Sleazy

I expected to love the new Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market that opened nearby, and to feel conflicted about shopping there because I know there are a lot of concerns about the company's environmental and labor practices throughout their supply chain.

But what I found on opening day was almost depressing: think beige version of Food 4 Less with a combination of brand name crappy food (mini corn dogs, chips ahoy) and own-brand yuppy food (organic yogurt, gourmet-looking prepared foods). The produce is all shrink-wrapped because the self-checkout stands aren't conducive to weighing veggies, and I was disappointed by the poor selection of enviro-friendly household products. I don't think Trader Joe's should be too worried about competition.

I was at the press conference depicted below, but missed the "conversation" with the head of security you see at the end. Not a smart move, Tesco!



FYI, the people at the "private event" were reporters, elected officials, real estate developers, important rich people, etc., who were invited to preview the store before the masses the next morning. Interestingly, U.K. press were NOT invited to the private soirée, though they were outside covering the press conference, and doing a much better job of it than did the U.S. press.

UPDATE - November 12, 2007

Just found this blog entry by Jon Plummer who also thinks the company is Fresh & Sleazy...but he went even further and made a cool graphic. Nice!

(Image is licensed as Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License by Jon Plummer)