the big '50' at fresh & easy

Last wednesday saw us open our 50th store (in Palm Desert), 15 weeks after our first.

It's been an exhilarating first 100 days, with its fair share of ups and downs.

We've always believed that the most important thing you can do is to listen to your customers - it is, after all, how fresh&easy was developed in the first place. So from the start, we've been interviewing customers outside every store we've opened, as well as inviting feedback thru our website and via comment cards.

Their response has been very encouraging. Indeed, some of the emails we've had in, thanking us for saving them time and money, as well as improving the quality of the food they eat, could have come straight from our original research. Every week we have more customers, and crucially, more repeat visits.

We've been amazed by how well our produce, our meat, and especially our chilled prepared meals (made in our own kitchen) have been received. In truth, we've struggled at times to keep up with demand, though we're improving every day. We really are building a supermarket business for the 21st century, on the back of fresh foods.

Perhaps most pleasing has been the number of customers who have commented on how helpful and friendly our staff are. Originally, people told us that companies that offer great service were companies that people enjoy working for. So we've worked hard to create a workplace where everyone is treated with respect. All employees are eligible for affordable and comprehensive healthcare. And we're seeing the benefits of that.

We're very grateful for the welcome we've received in every neighborhood where we've opened. We're glad we invited each neighborhood to nominate which local charity they wanted us to make a donation to on opening. The response has been fantastic, and we've ended up donating to a wide range of local non-profit organisations.

Of course, we can always improve. That's the whole purpose of continually asking for feedback. Already, there's new prepared meals appearing, such as tangerine chicken or black cod & miso, and we've drawn much more attention to just how low our prices are. Every day we try and make our shopping trip that bit better.

Indeed, most of all, the first 100 days have reminded us of the wisdom of simply listening to customers... and that, of course, is how it should be.....