Fresh & Easy Comes to North Hollywood

A Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market opened up its doors on Oct. 5 at 12811 W. Sherman Way in North Hollywood, taking over a location that was vacated by New King Seafood Market in the spring.

David Hechter of the NoHo West Neighborhood Council said he and his colleagues on the council have been very pleased to welcome Fresh & Easy to the neighborhood.

"They were quite interested in working with the community and let us know a few times that they are quite interested in hiring locally for their staff, which I believe they have done," said Hechter.

Fresh & Easy is a subsidiary chain of Tesco, a British-based company that according to CNN is Britain's largest retailer. CNN also reported that Tesco has committed $2 billion to launching Fresh & Easy markets in the U.S., a plan that began in 2007. There were 177 markets in California, Arizona and Nevada as of Aug. 31, according to numerous reports.

Fresh & Easy stores are about 1/3 the size of the average supermarket and focus on being healthy, affordable and environmentally friendly.

According to a report by Ruetgers:

• Fresh & Easy's sub critical cascade CO2 refrigeration system reduces the impact of the store's refrigeration on the ozone layer by about 70%, as compared to industry standards.
• The grocer's popular Fresh & Easy brand products have no artificial colors or flavors, no added trans fats, no high-fructose corn syrup, and only use preservatives when absolutely necessary.
• Fresh & Easy uses LED lighting in external signs and freezer cases and offers customer recycling in every store.
• The company also recycles or reuses all of its display packaging, sending the majority back to its distribution center's on-site recycling facility.
• At its distribution center in Riverside, CA, the company invested $13 million in a solar roof installation, which at 500,000 square feet is one of California's largest.
• Fresh & Easy refrigeration systems are built to the EPA's "GreenChill" standards, which has emissions rates 50% lower than the EPA-estimated industry average.

"We toured the facility and they have quite a good mix of food, quite a bit of their own label and prices that are good for the neighborhood and lots of fresh food," said Hechter. "And it works out well for the neighborhood because there had been an Alpha Beta grocery story where the 99 Cents store is now, for many years, and there hasn't really been a large super market other than the El Super, which is next door, and the next closest major supermarket is the Ralph's up on Woodman Avenue. So this is a great addition to the North Hollywood West area."