Fresh & Easy Pausing to Breath
Spent all weekend crying because Avril Lavigne canceled her concert in Anaheim? Turn your thoughts to something else. We’ll work through this together. [Insert gagging sound here] Try this on for size:
I know we discussed this when they first opened, but I thought I’d give and small update on the first 100 days. You see, there seems to be a sort-of “Go back to England” sentiment among commenters (from both trolls and casual commenters alike) about Fresh and Easy’s rethinking of their rollout schedule. I suppose it makes sense that people inherently don’t trust the British – our country was founded on not trusting the British. Still, I don’t really get the whole reactionary glee with which people seem to want this particular venture to fail.
Who’s behind the negative sentiment? My wife thinks it’s the union because F&E has non-union employees. Likewise who’s behind the seemingly endless media delight in trying to reduce Pinkberry to pile of rubble? I think it’s TCBY. Ok, I’m getting off track…
I have grown rather fond of F&E and have become a frequent shopper. Honestly it has to do with the low prices and the proximity to my home. If there was a Trader Joes in the neighborhood (which there isn’t) I might split my visits. Still, I think once you understand the concept of the small-format grocer, not unlike the kind I grew up with, the place takes on a sort-of convenient charm.
So what do you think?
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I’m with you on this one. I don’t understand the anger associated with F&E. They have a lot of great food. It’s mostly healthy. I just don’t get it.
When I was there last week (Maybe the week before) there were people out front handing out flyers (I assumed it was fun F&E coupons or something from the colors) but no, they were bashing F&E saying their food isn’t FDA approved, something about their workers, etc. I chucked it.
In my experience people are afraid of new things. New and awesome things really. And until Hollywood celebs start frequenting F&E and it becomes trendy (see Pinkberry -ewe!-), there’s going to be a lot of haters. I just hope they don’t win, cause then I’m stuck with just Ralph’s in the neighborhood. :-p
Who gives a flyin’ flipper what the FDA has to say? They haven’t done their job since that worthless acronym first entered the American lexicon. The good ol’ FDA has approved everything from propylene glycol (which is used to de-ice airplanes and currently makes its appearance in about 50 percent of our prepared food items)to food irradition and genetically modified organisms. Now the Brits on the other hand, have brought us nothing but good things, with music topping the list. Oddly enough, the Brits (and all of the Europe) do not allow GMOs to be grown or put in their food. As for unions, well, I’m for ‘em. On the other hand, entry level wage to work at Safeway under their Union contract, for example, is $8.25 per hour. You can work your way up to the top wage of $18.32 an hour in about four years, which isn’t bad, as long as you can live at home with your parents. If you have to live in the real world, then I would say the Union should put you up at its headquarters until your wage reaches at least 11 bucks an hour, unless of course you happen to reside in Orange County, in which case the Union will have to house and feed you until you make that top wage at Safeway. I think I trust the Brits more than our Food Disaster Agency here at home. Since when do Union members use tactics such as these to destroy the competition? Organizing workers, yes–attempting to throw workers out of work by convincing shoppers not to shop at a particular establishment–no. Yes, it does create a certain pressure, but then again, so does gas.
Rudolph The Red