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14 GROCERY & DEPARTMENT STORES GOURMET NEWS NOVEMBER 2013 www.gourmetnews.com Grocery & Department Stores Yucaipa Picks Up Fresh & Easy From Tesco, 50 Stores Close in Transition BY JAZMINE WOODBERRY The Yucaipa Companies LLC, will complete the acquisition of Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market within the next three months, moving it from the hands of United Kingdom-based Tesco. Since 1986, investment firm The Yucaipa Companies has done around $35 billion in merger and acquisition business. Now Ron Burkle, Managing Partner of Yucaipa has taken that eye to the Fresh & Easy brand. After launching in 2007, Fresh & Easy hit some skids in the road, and the chain has been up for sale by Tesco since April. Tesco reportedly took a more than $1 billion hit to get out of the American grocery market and relinquish control of close to 200 stores in Arizona, California and Nevada. The chain's acquisition by Yucaipa saved about 150 Fresh & Easy stores, as well as around 4,000 jobs. However, the purchase also means that 50 stores will close. Throughout Fresh & Easy's five-year Tesco-led run, the chain failed to turn a profit for U.K.'s biggest supermarket company. In fact, Fresh & Easy was cited as the main reason for Tesco's falling profits last fiscal year. It was the first time profits fell for the company in the last two decades. Fresh & Easy is not Burkle's first grocery investment, as the investor also has his hands on Ralphs Grocery, Food 4 Less and Alpha Beta California. Burkle also acquired the Wild Oats chain of stores in 2005, eventually giving them over to Whole Foods in 2007. Burkle still retains the Wild Oats brand name. The investor also had a heavy hand in deals with Fred Meyer, QFC, Smitty's and Smith's Food & Drug—all large grocery names in the Western United States that eventually folded into the Kroger Co. brand in the late 1990s. "[Fresh & Easy's] 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," Burkle said in a statement. "We plan on continuing to build Fresh & Easy into a 'next-generation convenience retail experience.'" Many have blamed Fresh & Easy's decline on a limited product selection that mimics a more European shopping experience. The chain has also been criticized for its self-checkout service. For these reasons, the chain did not grow the way Tesco had originally imagined. For Fresh & Easy insiders, the company's sale is seen as the best option for everyone involved. According to Tesco CEO Philip Clark, the acquisition offers "an orderly and efficient exit from the U.S. market, while protecting the jobs of more than 4,000 colleagues at Fresh & Easy." Former 7-Eleven CEO and Chairman Jim Keyes has been selected to oversee the new Yucaipa-led Fresh & Easy brand. GN BRIEFS Whole Foods Market Celebrates 77 New Certified Cheese Professionals Seventy-seven Whole Foods cheesemongers recently put their dairy expertise on display at the second annual American Cheese Society Certified Cheese Professional™ exam. The exam tests cheesemongers' mastery of all things cheese, including cheese making, ripening, storage, handling, nutrition and more. Those who pass the exam are part of an elite group of highly qualified cheese experts. In total, Whole Foods Market now has 147 Certified Cheese Professionals, the largest number of certified cheese experts in the world. The exam was held July 31, in conjunction with the 30th Annual American Cheese Society conference in Madison, Wis. Certification is valid for three years and is renewable for additional three-year periods through a formal recertification process. To commemorate this accomplishment, Whole Foods Market teamed up with several cheesemakers to have its 2012 Certified Cheese Professionals make special cheeses, which will be available in its stores nationwide starting this fall.

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