Fresh & Easy: Uneasy in Pacifica and Fresno

Fresh & Easy has remodeled the south end of Pedro Point shopping center for a store here in Pacifica, but the lousy economy has delayed its opening indefinitely. Now the grocery chain also has troubles in Fresno, as seen in this news item forwarded by Riptide irregular Mark Stechbart: "Union pickets Fresh & Easy stores -- The United Food and Commercial Workers union had a slightly different reason for picketing than customers might expect. They're not picketing only the fact that the stores' workers are not unionized but that the company is not locally owned. Fresh & Easy is owned by British grocer Tesco." FRESNO BEEHIVE

Comments

[Steve Sinai]

Pedro Point Shopping Center looks like it's owned by Sand Hill Property Company of San Mateo. Sand Hill Partners is a venture capital firm.

[Larry Moe Curly]

A quick google of Sand Hill Partners turns up what looks like a marketing consulting firm for venture capital. The fun part is this is the most overdone use of business jargon I've ever read.
http://www.sandhillpartners.com/
http://www.sandhillpartners.com/services.html

[Lionel Emde]

I have heard that the owners of the south end of the shopping center are Sand Hill Partners.
They, not Fresh & Easy, renovated the space.
The crash in commercial real estate comes home.
It's probably the most desirable space in town and it sits empty.

[todd bray]

The strikers have a legitimate cause and economics lesson for us all: spend locally.

"Tesco, which is Fresh & Easy's parent company in the United Kingdom, is siphoning money out of our community," Loveall said. "We are responding to that provocation."