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The folks at Tesco just posted a video of a quick tour through one of its new Fresh & Easy stores.

From the fleeting video, it looks like a brand with values, not perhaps as extreme as Whole Foods, but a step-up from your average grocery chain.

The same can be said for the overall experience.




Posted by Ed Cotton "We built the store inside a warehouse. We claimed it was a movie set so that people would deliver all these goods and not think it was us. We had to borrow products from other retailers because we hadn't at that stage developed any products. We took ordinary people in, and they really, really liked it."

Sir Tim Leahy-Tesco (on his company's research for the US launch)


Posted by Ed Cotton Tesco is one of the world's largest grocery chains and it sells a ton of private label products. No category is spared from its reach, including computer software. The image below is Tesco's "Office" software product that's apparently compatable with Microsoft Windows 98.


Obviously, that's pricey when combined to Google's free software downloads and the various open source programs that are freely available. However, it gives you an indication of just how much of a commodity software now is and illustrates some of the challenges that a giant like Microsoft now faces.

Via The Inquirer Tesco's entry into the US market with Fresh and Easy stores is being watched with considerable interest.

The company has clearly done their homework to identify a "Blue Ocean" in the cluttered grocery store space.



There seems to be considerable opportunity for the concept and it could be enough to worry some players in the market.

1. 7-11- Occupies the neigborhood default space. Used for emergencies and impulse shops. Does 7-11's position diminish when Tesco enters the neigborhood?

2. Trader Joes- Occupies an interesting niche- focus on value, quality and healthier products. However, lacks the fresh foods that Fresh and Easy promises.

3. Vons- Mall based, not in the neighborhood which places Fresh and Easy at an advantage. Convenience of neigborhood offering, quality of food and lack of clutter could attract Vons customers.

It should be noted that Fresh and Easy's entry is going to be fairly small scale; it's picking markets only in Nevada, Southern California and Arizona.

However, Tesco is a financial powerhouse and if the concept appears to be succeeding, it has the potential to accelerate the expansion.