Fresno bound at fresh&easy

Last week, we held an event at our Downtown Fresno store to announce the opening dates for our first few stores in the Fresno area.

-- Lemoore & Cinnamon, Lemoore: December 2nd
-- Tulare & R, Fresno: January 13th
-- Cedar & Nees, Fresno: January 13th
-- Shaw & Willow, Clovis: January 13th

The outpouring of support from the community and city government in Fresno was a great indication of what lies ahead for Fresh & Easy. A big thank you to Fresno City Council President Cynthia Sterling, City Council Member Lee Brand and Redevelopment Agency Exec Director Marlene Murphey who were on hand to speak.



With these six stores we are proud to be creating 125 more good paying, quality jobs with comprehensive benefits. If you are interested in joining our team, job listings and the application process are posted here.



For more on the Fresno story check out what Fresno bloggers like The Fresnan, Fresno Fusion and the Fresno Bee News Blog have to say about it.

Shop for Schools

Two weeks ago we launched our Shop for Schools program at the opening of our 126th location in Long Beach.

Earlier this year we piloted the program to raise money for K-8th grade schools in the neighborhoods around our stores. We saw an incredible response as schools raised more than $130,000 for whatever they need the funds for. Our store employees, parents and customers all pitched in with ways to enhance the program for this year’s version, so we are hopeful that even more schools will participate!

We have also added a Shopping Night to the program, which allows all registered schools to receive 5% of a store’s sales on a particular evening. One of our Las Vegas team members – Jackie Urban –came up with the idea, which we tried out with such success we decided to roll it out for all of our participating schools.

Check out a video on Shop for Schools from earlier this year.

Be sure to check with your local school to see if they are participating – it is not too late to participate! Schools have until October 1st (THURSDAY!) to sign-up at our website

fresh&easy gives back to schools

Last year, we heard a lot from our neighbors, customers and employees about how hard-hit schools have been because of the current economy. So we created a fundraising program called Shop for Schools to help. Today we announced that our first ever Shop for Schools program helped raise over $130,000 for schools in California, Arizona and Nevada!

The school that raised the most money in each state was awarded a $5,000 bonus. We presented the winning schools with their checks today at celebrations we threw at their neighborhood stores. The money raised can go toward anything the schools need most, from art supplies and books to playground equipment. We’re excited to share this video with you of Tim Mason, our CEO, presenting Mountain Meadows Elementary School in Moorpark, CA with a $10,000 donation!



Congratulations to all the participating schools on their fundraising efforts!

Cheers!
~Sallie