Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market Announces Plans to Open 48 Stores Throughout California's Inland Empire

RIVERSIDE, Calif., Sept. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Tesco, one of the top three retailers in the world, announced plans for its U.S. venture, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, to open grocery stores throughout California's Inland Empire and discussed plans to offer fresh, wholesome food consumers can trust at prices they can afford.

Fresh & Easy identified 48 store locations in the Inland Empire with some sites already under consideration. At roughly 10,000 square feet, these neighborhood markets will be smaller than the typical supermarket to give customers a faster, easier shopping experience. In addition to the Inland Empire, Fresh & Easy will open stores throughout Southern California, Phoenix and Las Vegas starting in November.

Fresh & Easy will bring a significant number of jobs to the Inland Empire. The company's Riverside distribution center is projected to employ approximately 1,500 to 2,000 employees over the next 5 years, and the 48 stores announced today will bring nearly 1,400 additional jobs to the area. The number of Fresh & Easy jobs will increase as the company continues to secure sites in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

"The fast-growing Inland Empire is an ideal location for our neighborhood markets," said Tim Mason, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market's CEO. "Everyone wants fresh, wholesome food at affordable prices. When our stores begin opening later this year, our customers will see this is exactly what we are providing to the neighborhood."

Before committing to build stores in the U.S., Fresh & Easy conducted extensive consumer research to develop a grocery store for American consumers. One of the key insights was almost everyone wants a wide range of fresh and wholesome food they can trust at reasonable prices. It was with that in mind that the concept for Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market was born.

"We take the promise of providing great food our customers can trust very seriously. For us, the centerpiece of this concept is freshness," said John Burry, Chief Commercial Officer. "In order to ensure freshness is paramount, we've put our distribution center in Riverside, central to the areas we are building stores, and we're making daily deliveries to each of our stores. We also aim to source as much as possible from local suppliers. For example, about 60% of our produce comes from California and all of our chicken is raised here too."

To underscore its commitment to bring great food customers can trust, Fresh & Easy announced it will be making its own prepared foods in a kitchen facility located in Riverside. The company has gone to great lengths to ensure all its private label Fresh & Easy products are as fresh as possible and contain no added trans-fats or artificial colors or flavors and has restricted the amount of preservatives. In addition to carrying fresh, wholesome food, the company will also offer customers' favorite brands to provide a one-stop shopping experience.

About Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is a local, neighborhood store committed to providing customers with fresh, wholesome food. Fresh & Easy will open stores in Southern California, Nevada and Arizona starting in November.

Fresh & Easy is a company of Tesco, the UK's largest retailer and one of the world's leading international retailers. Tesco operates over 3,200 stores across 12 countries and employing more than 400,000 people.

Tesco's success is due in part to delivering a consistently strong customer offering on every visit and every transaction, and by focusing on the company's core purpose: to create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty.

More information regarding Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market can be found at http://www.freshandeasy.com.

Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

CONTACT: Brendan Wonnacott, +1-916-554-3466, cell, +1-310-384-3833, for
Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

Web site: http://www.freshandeasy.com/