I was down in Phoenix over the holidays, and I checked out the Fresh & Easy market on Bell Road. I was not highly impressed, nor was I completely disappointed. First off, it is not another Trader Joe’s; not even close. I say this as a big fan of TJ’s; I like their selection, prices, and attitude.
F & E had much less inventory and the prices were pretty similar to Safeway – the exception being some of their F & E branded stuff, which was fairly reasonable. I bought a 12oz container of fresh salsa for $2.69; it was fresh and reasonably tasty. A thing I didn’t like (a trait shared also by TJ ‘s) was prepackaging of produce in foam and Saran wrap containers.
It looks like the future Fresh & Easy location at Pedro Point shopping center has a "For Rent" sign out front, so maybe we’ll never find out what could have been for Pacifica. After my mini-tour, I’m not sure I’ll really miss it, though.
RICH SHAFER
The owner is selling with approved plans. The project is probably stalled for the same reason that other projects are not currently moving forward (Nick's, Prospects, Harmony@1, etc.) -- the collapse of the capital markets. Nobody is buying, lending, or borrowing anything. The entire economy is on hold. It will likely be a long time before that project is built, if ever.
Posted by: Peter Loeb | January 07, 2009 at 03:29 PM
Sorry for all the posts. There's nothing good on TV at the moment.
I noticed there was a "For Sale" sign on the old Horizons Restaurant building. Does anyone know if that Horizons project (that took three years to get approval for) fell through?
Posted by: Steve Sinai | January 07, 2009 at 11:38 AM