Cheap & Easy.. (Phoenix, Mesa, Glendale: for sale, neighborhoods, buy)

[Magnum Mike]

No, I'm not talking about a gal you pick up at a bar or on East Van Buren.. Cheap & Easy is a new produce store that's going to open on 19th Ave & Glendale in Phoenix. I'm not sure if that's the only store they're going to open, but I hear it's going to have the look and feel of an old-fashioned produce market.

Does anybody know anything about them, or if they're going to open multiple stores in Arizona?

[MonaLisaVito]

Jeez, I saw cheap and easy and magnum mike's name and came running right over

Are we talking about melons here?

[sablebaby]

There's one being set up at 12th st and Northern. I can't wait to see what it's like.

[Magnum Mike]

Originally Posted by mjb68

Jeez, I saw cheap and easy and magnum mike's name and came running right over

Are we talking about melons here?

LOL... Gee thanks MJB, along with cucumbers and walnuts.

Shucks, I know... that's bad. I think it's my GTYR (Go To Your Room) time

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by Magnum Mike

No, I'm not talking about a gal you pick up at a bar or on East Van Buren.. Cheap & Easy is a new produce store that's going to open on 19th Ave & Glendale in Phoenix. I'm not sure if that's the only store they're going to open, but I hear it's going to have the look and feel of an old-fashioned produce market.

Does anybody know anything about them, or if they're going to open multiple stores in Arizona?

Could they be the tiny Wal-Marts GreatDay (I believe) was talking about, but in disguise?!

[silverbear]

The store is actually called "Fresh and Easy," and Tesco (not Wal-Mart) is opening them throughout the metro area. I've made two trips to the west Mesa F&E store at University & Alma School, which opened back in December. I thought it was pretty nice. It's a small format grocery, but it's a little less funky than TJ's. You can get all the basics there, but you won't have to choose among dozens of competing brands. Usually, there's an F&E store brand and maybe one national brand alongside it. A lot of the thinking behind the store reflects the ideas expressed in Barry Schwartz's book "the Paradox of Choice," which basically argues that many consumers are overwhelmed by too many choices. Giving them a choice of a dozen brands of canned kidney beans is not helpful. Instead, it's better to offer a good price on one or two brands. In addition, there are very few non-food items for sale -- no tobacco, no lottery tickets, no mylar balloons, etc. It's a focused store meant to be more convenient and accessible than a large supermarket. As for the produce market comparison -- not so much. There is a produce section, but it's all packaged produce. I'm fine with that, but it's different from a traditional produce stand where shoppers can buy as little or as much they want by weight.

[Ponderosa]

Maybe they're going to call the westside ones "Cheap and Easy"

[sablebaby]

Cool. I was wondering what Tesco was coming out here. How are the prices?

[silverbear]

Originally Posted by sablebaby

Cool. I was wondering what Tesco was coming out here. How are the prices?

Pretty good -- especially on the F&E store brand items. BTW, 12th & Northern looks like it might open any day now. Here's a map of all currently planned locations in the Phoenix Metro Area:

fresh&easy Neighborhood Market

One thing I like is that unlike some retailers who come to the Phoenix Metro Area (e.g. Kohl's), F&E is not concentrating just on outer suburban markets. The stores are in all sorts of neighborhoods, even ones that other retailers might avoid.

[Magnum Mike]

Ooops, sorry it is Fresh & Easy.. either that, or it's the store near ASU... - I guess my mind was in the gutter.

Oh well, it's the same thing no matter what you want to call it.