Fresh & Easy

We rushed over to this location after we saw it was one of the ones scheduled to close.
It was kind of sad. Everything about this location (even amidst the store closing discount rush) was great — parking, plenty of aisles with apparently what would have been a good variety of items, produce section vast, selection of deli items and cheeses was superior compared to other Fresh & Easy locations.
I even ran into a couple of shoppers who expressed remorse over the closing of their «favorite neighborhood» Fresh & Easy.
Well, we expected chaos and we did indeed experience just that.
The store was flooded with shoppers desperate to stock up on as many 50% reduced price items as they could.
We were right there holding our own. We piled two shopping carts full of as many long-​term storage items as we could. We must have purchased at least 15 boxes of organic cereal.
Grand total: over $ 600 before the transaction discount. After the discount: just a little over $ 300.
Now the question is: Should I store all of these items and save a few $$ over the next month or so? Or should I open my own mini-​mart?

It’s a mad house there today after the closing e-​mails went out. Little parking and shopping baskets hard to find. One guy off loaded everything we bought into our car just to get the basket (and we’d spent $ 300+). Everything but fresh meat 50% off. Beer and wine were discounted. I snagged the last 4 cases of Bud light but saw guys with baskets just full of wine. I’m sure the store will be stripped bare by tonight as everyone had overloaded baskets. It’s too bad it didn’t work out.

Man, I am super bummed. I just found out that this location is closing.
Super clean, good selection. I really like the store brand of everything. This town has a lot of small markets unfortunately I guess.
I wish everyone here the best of luck.

Fresh n easy is a wonderful store for fresh food at a fair price. They do almost all the work for you and it’s never frozen which is why I shop here often for fresh meat. I love the weekly deals they have and the self check out because it’s so easy!
Quality of meat is always fresh and delicious; they also have prepared food which is kept in the fridge so you just heat it up and have it ready (fast n easy) ;) it really lives up to its name which I appreciate!
I also love the parking and getting $ 5 off my bill when you spend $ 20 or more.

My Trader Joe’s in La Crescenta moved from their old location which had been around since around 1978 or so and moved 4 miles away to Montrose which is a bit inconvenient for a quick dash. I’ve always liked Trader Joe’s since they cater to the Liberal Arts graduate crowd in that we have Champagne tastes, but have only Vin Mousseux budgets.
TJ’s capitalizes on this by having buyers go around the world to find interesting, sophisticated comestibles & libations but obtains them from manufactures & producers that are able to discount their price. TJ’s passes on some of the discount to the customer. One drawback is that some of the the labels are not around for long since when the discount or run ends, it no longer stocks them. The buyers seem knowledgeable about the foods they procure & certainly taste tests them with collegues to make sure the product is flavourful enough.
Around the same time TJ’s moved, Fresh & Easy opened only about a mile away. Woo Hoo! Since it is a British owned company, I thought it would have more European & British savoir-​faire in stocking products that are not found at the standard superchains such as Ralph’s, Von’s, or Albertson’s.
There are some examples of this such as a nice white cheddar from Ireland with creamy, aged, mild sharpness with great dairy Umami, but for the most part, a lot of the stock on hand is what can be bought at the superchains such as Best Foods, Dreyer’s ice cream, Farmer John, Frito-​Lay, Skippy Peanut Butter, Heinz. Well, you get the drift. You can get these kinds of products anywhere. Why is Fresh & Easy stocking such common items that can be found in every tom, dick, & harry store???
F&E does have some good price points for many of their items, but very few of their products seem unique enough to differentiate themselves from the ubiquitous Ralph’s, etc. Not that F&E needs to steel the thunder away from TJ’s, but they need to find a more specialized niche that sells good tasting food & drink that is not found in the other stores.
Also, the buyers MUST taste what they buy & have opinions from other buyers in their field to try to guarantee the tastiness & flavourfulness of the products that they acquire. Out of curiosity, I tried the Hammer Ale 30cans/​$ 13.99, and it tasted like watered down beer with a flabby taste profile. Luckily I had to go to a potluck party so I dumped the Hammer & left it there.
The F&E Nonfat Plain Greek Yogurt is another product I find that is flat in flavour with no sweet grass fed dairy undertones & is insipid. (I made it more palatable by adding in mixed floral light amber honey from Napa.) I wonder if they even taste what they buy, or are the buyers stereotypically «British», famous even to this day for their lousy taste in food? Only the French, Italians, & East Indians could save them.
Gut reaction-​wise I would rate F&E with 2 Unilocal stars, but they do good discounts on certain items such as their bacon, mineral water, etc. which helps to up it one Unilocal star. But F&E, please distinguish yourself with more unique, good tasting products since I really want to like you. You are so close & would be so convenient.

One of my favorite spot to get some popcorn for the kids and school donations. Anyway, It’s clean, guys are polite and helpful. There was this guy who always follow me, making sure I find what I needed. I did not expect him to notice my colorful nail polish one time. I find things easier although I have been there quite a few times to buy nuts, organic ginger and some spices. Oh and my favorite, FNE non fat greek yogurt. With few deals occasionally, i get it $ 8 for 2, not bad and I don’t have to drive all the way to costco and buy Fage. This one tastes ok.
Overall, I hope FNE stays this way.