on the road with fresh & easy

A whirlwind few weeks.

Last tuesday Tim, Hugh, Bryan (who runs our stores) & I were sitting in LAX at 5.30am, with a Starbucks in our hand.

We were flying to Phoenix in order to launch our first fresh&easy stores there, having already launched in southern California and Las Vegas , as well as fitting in a week showing investors and media around our business.

We looked like some kind of ageing rock band on the last leg of a tour! (I always was a fan of Spinal Tap!)

In each place, we first held a rally with our people, to tell the story of fresh&easy and describe the kind of business we're trying to create. Then a reception in a store, to thank the civic leaders and our local suppliers for welcoming us to their community. Finally, the next morning, opening ceremonies in each of our stores, thanking people for welcoming us to their neighborhood, and giving a donation to a local charity - itself nominated by the neighborhood.

It's been a fantastic experience so far. I've met so many people (talked myself hoarse at times), and everyone's been so friendly and excited.

But now the hard work really starts.

We have real stores, with real customers and employees...and we're adding stores every week.

Every week we're learning what does and doesn't work.

Every week we have more and more suggestions from customers and employees, telling us how we can improve.

With our opening tour at an end, we can now focus on doing just that......and that's how it should be...