A Vons spokesman said this week that its new The Market grocery store, which secretly launched last week in Southern California, is not a copycat of Tesco’s Fresh & Easy.
“We’ve been working on this concept for well over a year,” said Brian Dowling, a spokesman for Safeway, parent company of Vons.
Fresh & Easy opened its first American stores in November — promoting itself as a neighborhood market with fresh foods and convenient takeout meals for busy shoppers. It now has 61 stores in three states, including six in Orange County.
Last week, Safeway quietly opened The Market in Belmont Shore, which claims to offer a “clutter-free” and “refreshingly simple” market for shoppers on the go. The 15,000-square-foot store offers a slimmed down version of groceries and a large variety of ready to eat meals.
It’s essentially a mini version of a Vons lifestyle store with only six aisles dedicated to basic shelf goods such as salad dressings, detergent, sodas and chips. Dowling said he expects the store to cater to shoppers who do “fill in” shopping a few times a week.
Whichever way you slice it, The Market appears to be a sleeker version of a Fresh & Easy. Critics have compared Tesco’s markets to a government surplus store.
The Market, on the other hand, boasts an open-hearth fire pit for baking artisan breads (above photo), a huge wine section, a Starbucks cafe, fresh-cut meats and a sandwich shop. (Learn more about The Market by reading my previous report.)
Some shoppers have likened it to a mini-Whole Foods Market.
Anna Mae Van Essen, who can walk to the store from her Long Beach home, said she loves the store’s fresh produce, cheese assortment and deli section. (berries, at right, found in deli area.)
“They have everything I want, but not too big,” said Van Essen, 81.
Dowling said Safeway will be watching closely how shoppers respond to The Market over the next few months. He declined to comment on any plans to expand the pilot store to other locations, including Orange County.
“No announcements yet,” he said.
Stay tuned.
Go here to take our POLL: Would you like The Market by Vons to open in Orange County?
Register photographer Jebb Harris contributed to this report & took the photos. View more The Market photos below or see a slide show of the store by clicking here.
Hot and fresh: The Market features an open-hearth oven, where breads are baked daily. Staff will also cut your loaves to any size you want.
Small, convenient: Aisles are stocked with basic brands and O Organics line of foods.
Cheese galore: Gourmet cheeses fill a bin near the deli and sandwich bar. Samples are also given out.
I went over the weekend. It is a miniaturized Vons. Everything is miniaturized… the width of the aisles, the size of the shopping carts, and the parking stalls. There was a big line at checkout, so I left without buying anything. They were not sampling anything at any of the numerous sample stations throughout the store, but there is nothing that isn’t already sold at Vons. Same Vons prices (high with a few specials).
I think it will appeal to the people who like homey decor, crowded aisles, attractive displays. And they do have the service counters that are lacikng at Fresh & Easy. It’s definitely an improvement over the Vons that used to be there, but it doesn’t have much in common with Fresh & Easy other than the small footprint.
We didn’t copy anyone!!!!!!!!!!
Be affraid… be very affraid…. Safeway doesnt get into anything that it cant be the leader of….. Fresh in Easy is claiming that Safeway is copying them? WOW they look like a oversized vending machine with their poor selection and their staff show poor interest in making the store the most appealing that it could be….. BYE BYE Fresh and Easy…..
I went this past weekend and found the store to be refreshing. But the prices were substantially higher than say, Trader Joe’s, where I usually shop and since it isn’t walking distance from my house, I’ll likely only be making stops there to use the ATM or pick up a sandwich when I am hanging out in the neighborhood or simply passing through. If I lived in the neighborhood I could see the advantage of having fresh produce, breads and a gret selection of wine from a reputable market such as Vons but since I have to get in my car to go there, I’m happy to drive a little further and go to my regular shopping place where I can feel good about saving a little money and support a company like Trader Joe’s from now on.