HEMET, Calif. — Tesco’s first Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market here features a bare-bones “warehouse store” ambiance, with exposed ceilings and products displayed on shelves in cut-open boxes, SN observed yesterday. Produce, with the exception of bananas, is prepacked and displayed in recyclable plastic containers. The store has no service departments, and all eight cash register lanes are self-checkout. Although some branded items are on display, most offerings carry the Fresh & Easy private label, and many appear to be competitively priced. Prepared foods include sushi, salads, soups, sandwiches and heat-and-eat dinner entrees, plus a few hot items like rotisserie chicken. The “kitchen table” sampling counter was offering hot pizza yesterday, along with Fresh & Easy brand crackers and apple juice. There are six low-profile gondolas of dry grocery and a limited selection of nonfoods, including paper goods, lightbulbs, batteries, some household cleaning products and some HBC items. SN estimated the store to be about 10,000 square feet. It is located in a lower-income retirement community about 100 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Several other Fresh & Easy stores in the Southwest are scheduled to open later this week.
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