Even though I do not live in the Monta Loma neighborhood I am distressed at this new. Neighborhood markets (ma and pa versions) were once a norm in this country. But that mode of business has disappeared and we are the less for it.

Grocery retail in this location is essential, I will miss Fresh and Easy when it's gone. It's going to be a painful wait for something new to fill the space.

I assume that the Trader Joe's site at San Antonio will eventually be redeveloped like most of that shopping center. That Trader Joe's is one of the more cramped ones in the area. Compare it to newer, larger TJs like the one at Town and Country in Palo Alto or the one at Homestead in Los Altos. There's plenty of room in Monta Loma Plaza for TJ's to spread out as much as they want, perhaps TJs corporate can get ahead of the curve and relocate their location sooner rather than later.

There's always Grocery Outlet in Palo Alto. (remember what "outlet" means folks...)

Fresh and Easy had some deals, like frozen potatoes in different varieties.

But they also had many things that cost far more than other stores. Cat food was about 50% more than Safeway or Walmart. Rockstar was a dollar more than any other store. Milk used to be more than Walgreens or 7-11 or Safeway....

Markdowns on their pre-made food were pretty amazing though.

@dollarbin: You can put in a request for a store at the Trader Joe's web site:

Link:
Web Link

"Fresh & Easy began in 2007 as an ambitious venture by the major British-based company Tesco to start a grocery store chain in the United States. The company began its operations by opening hundreds of stores in California, Nevada and Arizona. . .but the chain never really took off."

The whole venture seemed bizarre to me at the start -- an impression only confirmed as it played out. The kind of idea that might originate from a corporate senior manager of persuasive personality, able to internally sell a concept that's crisp, bold, and wrong. Business scholarship annals bulge with such cases, and this one may, realistically, be studied by future biz-school students at Harvard.

It was a British firm, opening a quite untried concept, across apparently unfamiliar territory. The stores struck unfamiliar newcomers as strange, almost cultish. UNLIKE Whole Foods and Trader Joe's (cited in the article), which were recognizable variations on typical US supermarkets. Why on earth didn't Tesco, like, try a pilot program to learn whether the different format would catch on, or what changes were needed -- rather than "beginning by opening hundreds of stores?"

That is a real shame. They had really great produce and fruit as well as ready to eat items. I will miss this store. I vastly preferred it over Trader Joe. One wonders why this chain as a whole could not compete. I heard of their troubles a while back and was rooting for them to figure it out. Sad

I am from the Rex Manor neighborhood. I only shopped at this Fresh & Easy 3 times since it opened. Now when it closes, I bet it will take 3 to 5 years for another store to open in that center. But Trader Joe's is a great choice---away from the new Village at San Antonio.

@Patrick. Done!

Also, quick correction for the story, the average Safeway is 46,000 square feet, not 10,000. 10,000 square feet is about the size of a smaller Trader Joe's.

I read somewhere that research showed that UK shoppers don't mind pre-packaged produce and self-checkout, but that US ones do. Hence Tesco's failed investment.

It would be great if a new grocery store could move in to the old Albertsons location right next door to Fresh & Easy. It's a nice, large space and it has been empty for years now.

So happy they are closing! This was a terrible spot for a fresh and easy. That store is designed around single folks who can't cook for themselves. All the FnE brands were awful, tasted terrible and were anything but fresh.

That area is families and local, please please please put in a TJs or Sprouts or something equivalent. Let's get a good store in there! Fresh and Easy was awful, no surprise they are closing.

I didn't think F&E was much of a grocery store. It smelled weird in there, they often seemed to be out of items i wanted, and the self-checkouts drove me crazy.

But it was way way better than no grocery store. How can we get one in there?

Let's start a campaign through the link for Trader Joes. I posted a request to the site just now.

Web Link

Every store has failed at that location due to demographics of neighborhood income. Only a store similar to Grocery Outlet might have a chance; Traders Joe's would not, and the Liquor store attracts too much low life to attract food shoppers as a neighbor business. In a larger sense maybe the days of that center have ended with everything being torn down and housing put in.

I also would love to see a Trader Joes or Grocery Outlet Bargain Mart at this location. It would definitely save some driving.

I also like check out people as opposed to self serving. I think it is a friendlier experience. I'm sure there is someone that wants that job.

Oh well, at least I got a free bag out of it.
By the way, don't wash it in hot water; it shrinks dramatically.

I usually try to avoid the self-checkout lanes at places that have both (Safeway, Home Depot, etc.), just because they've often been a hassle. But the self-checkout lanes at F&E always worked just fine for me.

Still, it was a rather odd concept that didn't seem to take off. There were a few things that we liked to get there, but it wasn't a place where we would do the majority of our shopping.

One consequence/benefit(?) of less cars/traffic in other countries is those small packages of vegetables someone mentioned. No one is going to take 8 bags of groceries home on a bike. I've seen the weird little packages of vegetables and 8 oz or less packages of meat at corner/convenience stores all over Asia and Europe. As mentioned...it probably just didn't fly here.

As far as "low life" people at the adjacent liquor store...the Shoreline safeway has that title locked up. All kinds of burnouts hanging around there on the benches or in cars in the parking lot.

I am sorry to see it go.

I used it quite often as I have a regular meeting nearby and would stop in to get a few items that I like. Their meat and fish were excellent and so was their bread, although not as many options as when they first opened. They also carried some hard to find elsewhere items which I had on occasion driven all the way from Palo Alto to get especially. I didn't like their produce though.

As for the self serve checkouts, they weren't too bad unless you had more than 20 items when it was a very long procedure. But, we will have to get used to these, particularly in small supermarkets, as with the minimum wage increases it is getting too expensive for small stores to employ checkout clerks and baggers. Even Target is now switching to less human operated checkouts and several self serve. We are going to have to get used to less human interactions as it gets more expensive to have humans when automation is comparatively cheap.

p.s. Not a fan of Trader Joes, so if it comes here don't expect my custom.

I LOVED Fresh & Easy when Tesco operated it. However, when the new owner (Yucaipa Companies) took over at the end of 2013, they raised prices across the board by at least 20%. Suddenly it didn't make sense to shop there when I could get the same (or very similar) items at Trader Joe's for a lot less. I think the new owner ruined Fresh & Easy.

I would be very pleased to have a Trader Joe's move in to Monta Loma Plaza. But Grocery Outlet? Not so pleased. Grocery Outlet sells a lot of stuff that is about to expire or has already passed its expiration date. Be very careful when you purchase anything from G.O. Search carefully for the expiration date. You cannot depend on being able to buy the same items from week to week. Several times I have gone there to purchase Half 'n' Half. They had several varieties of milk, whipping cream, buttermilk, but no Half 'n' Half. Waste of time to go there in my case. Their produce doesn't look attractive to me. I think they get produce that is about to go bad.

Maybe the Monta Loma shopping center is a hidden gem that doesn't get a lot of traffic? Starbuck's seems to be busy however.

I just hope it isn't empty as long as it was last time.

What demographics make you think the area is too poor to support a decent grocery store?

I don't think the Google engineers (4 of them on my block alone) and the lawyer down the street and the tech entrepreneur who lives next to him are sweating their grocery bills.

I am not sure that this particular branch of Fresh & Easy was unable to make a go of it, just that the chain itself had difficulties.

I think it would be interesting to see if this branch was one of their more solvent branches or not.

The quick stop markets are the type that young professionals (Google types) are much more likely to use. They want recognized brands and easy to cook meals, both of which were available here. Trader Joes is a niche market and for as many as like them, there are as many who don't from my experience.

I could always park easily which is also a concern. Safeway and TJs at San Antonio are not easy to park if you want to grab and go with something easy to cook or are in a hurry.

I expect a market in this location to flourish because it is ideally situated for local residents and also for those who want to stop off on their way home from work.

I used it because I liked bread and dinner items, as well as some of its hard to find items when I was in the area. I am unlikely to use a new grocery there unless it does the same.

I don't know what's wrong with all of the people complaining about self checkouts - they're a major time saver. Try waiting in line for 10 minutes to buy a bag of chips at the Safeway on Shoreline, before you decide that self checkouts are a bad idea.

But in retail it makes little sense to ask "what's wrong with" all of the people complaining about self checkouts; what matters is that they complain. If customers shy away from an aspect of the store, that's bad for the retailer, regardless of whether those customers are "wrong."

Regarding self-serve registers. They're ok but rather problematic compared to a staffed register. Many times a staff member had to come to the register to type in a code to unblock the system. If I bought bananas at 19c each, the larger ones would weigh more and trigger the fraud mechanism. Very light items never even registered weight-wise. If I waved my hand wrong while putting down an item onto the belt, the fraud mechanism would trigger. If you buy beer or wine, then you needed the staff's help by law. If you used more than six coupons in one transaction, the staff member had to come over and assist. Suppose you buy twelve cans of the same item. There was no way to tell the register you had twelve of the same item (exception was bananas and ears of corn). You had to scan each can and place it on the belt one at a time. You could not rush because the scanner would turn red after each scan and you had to wait for it to turn green to proceed. Then after paying I had to bag my items, so the next person in line had to wait until I finished that. It wasn't set up for someone who might buy a large number of items. Seemed OK if you only bought a half-dozen items. Otherwise it was more work than being served by a cashier.

Our Rengstorff Fresh and Easy was never busy (compared to Safeway on Shoreline or Trader Joe's). I never had to wait to use a register at F&E. So yes, it was quick in that sense. But I always wondered how that store could remain open and viable if it was never busy. I do think that having only self-serve registers turned off a lot of folks. My first reaction on opening day was "Yuck!" But I had a 25% off coupon and I liked what I bought, so I kept coming back twice a week.

I will miss F&E. But as I said before, the new owner wrecked it with exorbitant price increases.

Tesco opened a lot of stores in economically depressed areas, and with slightly higher prices initially, it's easy to see why they went broke.

Oh well, here's hoping that Monta Loma Plaza shopping center will find a new grocer.

By the way, is there any other credit union branch in Mt. View? Seems that Meriwest at Monta Loma Plaza is the only one left in MV.

OK, that whole shopping center needs to be re-evaluated. With F&E closed, it will be as much vacant as it is occupied! Not a good thing for the community.

Who in the city has responsibility for this kind of thing? I'm wondering if the space could be purchased for community use, or somehow we negotiate to bring in a gym, or an arts space, or a maker space, or something so that spot doesn't sit empty for years.

How can the community make a difference in what goes in there?

The numbers I have heard say around 10,000 people are needed to support a grocery store. Fewer if it is a specialty grocer like Trader Joe's, or a high end grocer, like Andronico's.

We have several neighborhoods asking for a grocery store within walking distance. The short answer is works out fine if you also want 10,000 people within walking distance.

Put another way, you may want a neighborhood with fewer people, but the grocery store wants a neighborhood with more people. In this case, you and the grocery store are likely to choose different neighborhoods.

Regarding Monta Loma Plaza center, why are there always a lot of cars parked in the lot at all times of day? Every time I go there, the lot seems very full in the area between La Bamba and Valero. I don't see a lot of people shopping or using the laundromat, or eating at the restaurants at 10AM for example. And F&E customers parked closer to the entrance.

Once upon a recent time there was a rumor of an Ace Hardware store moving into the large space adjacent to F&E. With Orchard Supply so near, maybe they had second thoughts? And that space has zero visibility within the shopping center. It's hidden in the back left corner.

Why did the Thai restaurant close? I wonder if they spent too much money fixing up that space?

I agree with Dennis. Something about that location seems to doom grocery stores. There was a Lucky's there that turned into an Albertsons and then a couple years later it closed. Then there was a terrific Asian grocery that only lasted a few years. Then it stood empty for several years until F&E opened. I think the problem is that there is an upscale family-run grocery (Piazza's) five minutes to the north and a Safeway five minutes south, so whatever is in there has to find some way to compete.

shaz samm, will miss them, since I don't know how to cook

i work close by and this was my go-to store when i left work. not sure of what is happening with the Milk Pail these days, but maybe they should consider this spot. parking would be much easier.

I'm not sure the Milk Pail ownership/management would be able to handle any change in venue or in taking on additional sites. So little has changed with Milk Pail in the last several years (decades really) and they've fought so hard to stay exactly where they are (for better or worse).

I am so sorry to hear this.

Before I moved to Palo Alto, I used to live very close to this location.
First there was a Lucky there. Then it was Albertsons, then a long
spell with nothing there and then an Asian market, and then this Fresh
and Easy market.

It was better than nothing and very nice if you need staples and live
in the neighborhood, but this place was like a robot supermarket.

It was cold and sterile, no employees in sight, no help and maybe 1
checker, though I think it was mostly automated. Going by memory here
because I have only been there about 3 times. This place was kind of
like a haunted supermarket.

If this is the future or markets, it is pretty depressing.

This location seems good, although it is close by car to Walmart and
Costco, and other stores that off discount groceries. It really sucks for
property values in the vicinity to have this empty what is a pretty large
store in the middle of what is a fairly nice shopping center how.

If I had to guess, I'd say the problem with this location is a lot like the
Alma Plaza and Edgewood Plaza locations in Palo Alto ... it is too small
for a large market, and there are many large markets in the area ...

Multiple Safeways that have more and fresher selection and are cheaper,
there are the Costcos, Targets and Walmarts that have bulk stuff, and
then there is Piazzis and Whole Foods not that far away for the high
end stuff. That leaves this nothing to really specialize in except serving
the local neighborhood.

This would be perfect for like a combo high end convenience store,
cafe type place, a neighborhood congregating spot to eat or drink,
except Starbucks is right next door too.

The problem is not that there are not customers, but the marginal
number of customers are going to be going to other places for most
of their stuff because there is just not enough of a draw for this
place alone. When it was Lucky's or Albertsons it seemed to do
pretty well.

RE: Albertson's at the location

In my memory, there was a fire at the Albertsons. I wouldn't be surprised if part of the reason why the space was vacant for so long was because of the costs of repair and refurbish.

But the whole center has been re-faced by now. It may perhaps be reasonable to assume that the site won't be vacant as long as it was last time.

I will miss F&E greatly. Not only did I not mind the self-checkout, but the staff there has always been very warm and friendly to me; and I prefer to see the people on the floor where they can help me and welcome me than stuck behind a register where they are counting the minutes until they go home. Seriously, when you strike conversation with a check-out clerk at a grocery store, I would guess that 65% of my personal experience and those which I have overheard while I was standing in line was about "how long until I get off" or "what time I got in this morning".

And I will greatly miss their house brands. There was some not-so-great stuff; but most of it was very good.