Lunada Bay Fresh & Easy to Remain Open

The Fresh & Easy Express in Lunada Bay is not among the locations that face closure in light of the grocery chain's anticipated acquisition by Yucaipa Cos., a private equity firm owned by billionaire Ron Burkle.

Yucaipa Cos. announced Tuesday it was buying the Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market chain from U.K.-based Tesco. Though terms of the deal were not released, Fresh & Easy spokesman Brendon Wonnacott said Tuesday that about 50 of the 200 Fresh & Easy stores nationwide would close.


Nevertheless, he said the company was still evaluating which stores would be closed, and though some of the company's 4,000 employees would be laid off, the majority would keep their jobs under Yucaipa's ownership.

An employee who answered the Lunada Bay store's phone Wednesday evening said that the store had been notified that it would remain open.

Fresh & Easy's U.S. headquarters are in El Segundo.

The deal between Tesco and Yucaipa Cos., in which Yucaipa Cos. will assume the grocery chain's debt, is expected to be completed in about three months.

"Fresh & Easy is a tremendous foundation," Burkle said. "Tesco should be applauded for giving their customers an affordable, healthy, convenient shopping experience. Its dedicated employees and great base of customers give us a solid starting point to complete Tesco's vision with some changes that we think will make it even more relevant to today's consumer.

"We plan on continuing to build Fresh & Easy into a 'next-generation convenience retail experience,' providing busy consumers with more local and healthy access for their daily needs."

Yucaipa Cos., founded in 1986, has used leveraged buyouts to acquire majority positions in grocery store chains such as Ralphs and Kroger. More recently, Yucaipa Cos. bought a stake in The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. and Barney's New York.

Philip Clarke, Tesco's chief executive, said the sale was the best for Tesco shareholders and Fresh & Easy's stakeholders.

"It offers us an orderly and efficient exit from the US market, while protecting the jobs of more than 4,000 colleagues at Fresh & Easy," he said.

Fresh & Easy, which targeted California and the Southwest when it entered the U.S. market in 2007, has about 200 stores nationwide and a distribution hub in Riverside, but it has steadily lost money.

The Palos Verdes Estates Fresh & Easy Express, which opened in mid-June 2012 in place of the Lunada Bay Market, was designed to be a smaller version of its Neighborhood Market counterparts, according to Fresh & Easy Buzz, which is not affiliated with the company. It was intended to be the ninth of the mini-markets to open in the United States.

The 4,500-square-foot store has about 3,000 square feet of shopping space.

Tesco is the No. 3 retailer worldwide in terms of sales, behind Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Carrefour SA.

—City News Service contributed to this report.