every little helps at fresh & easy

A few things recently reminded me of the wisdom of just trying to make things a bit better for people, as an approach to retailing.

There was the warm welcome we received at the ground breaking ceremony at Central & Adams, in South LA. What were we doing? Bringing people access to fresh, wholesome food at affordable prices for the first time in a generation, as well as good jobs to their neighborhood.

Also, the new stores we opened at Indian School & 7th in Phoenix, and Point Loma in San Diego. Very different stores, one part of a regeneration project, the other replacing a small Albertsons that had closed more than 2 years ago. People were delighted at both openings that we had come, and they're both doing really well. Why? Again, because they now had access locally to quality food at great prices, as well as good jobs in their neighborhoods.

Then, there was the recent city meetings we held, where we invited any new starters since the previous meetings and all our store managers, to come and have a chat with us.
We ended up talking at one point about our Smart Boxes, a range of products that we offer for kids lunches.
Nothing special in that you might say. Of course, like all fresh&easy products,they have simple ingredients, with no artificial colors, flavors or added transfats. And they've been quite well balanced nutritionally, including individual servings of fruit.
But they're significantly outselling the main brand that we also offer. Why? Because they make it that little bit easier to provide kids with a more wholesome option.

Finally, we came across a realtor this week who was using proximity to one of our stores as a selling point for a property. Why? Because she said it adds value for people.

None of this is rocket science. We're just trying to do things that makes people's lives that little bit easier, so that they'll shop with us.

It's a simple approach. People benefit, and we gain their custom.

And that, surely, is how it should be.....