Island Pacific-Fresh & Easy Conversion Chain

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storewanderer
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Island Pacific-Fresh & Easy Conversion Chain

Post by storewanderer »

I had avoided this chain of largely Fresh & Easy Stores converted into Filipino Stores but finally went into one of their stores. I know this chain previously had some problems and closed a large chunk of stores and left WA.

Their Fresh & Easy conversion was interesting. Produce in the same spot as Fresh & Easy but expanded a bit across from the wall. Produce actually looked good, and was well priced. They took and built a bakery and large hot food cafeteria type counter against the front wall. The prep area seemed tight and not designed well but obviously they didn't have much space to work with. Then at the back wall they built a large seafood area including counter and self serve; again this was rather tight quarters but worked.

Regular shelving installed for the aisles, high shelves, surprised by the assortment and also they had their own private label. Pricing was better than I expected it to be also (better than Seafood City for sure, a chain that has become more than a bit of a joke with very high prices and too few imported goods, but still has the nicer stores).

Did not see any liquor in the store; may have missed it.

They had one self checkout unit left from Fresh & Easy but it didn't seem to be working and some of the equipment was removed from it, not sure if it functions. They had 4 regular checkstands. Checkout was slow and no space for a line to form with congesting aisle traffic. Some kind of loyalty card program, but it is not needed for sale pricing. Checkout was efficient and speechless.
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Re: Island Pacific-Fresh & Easy Conversion Chain

Post by retailfanmitchell019 »

storewanderer wrote: October 15th, 2022, 1:03 pm Did not see any liquor in the store; may have missed it.
Maybe the owner is religious enough not to sell alcohol. Williams, a small Oklahoma chain that bought some Albertsons stores, didn't sell alcohol at the time due to the owner's religious objections.
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Re: Island Pacific-Fresh & Easy Conversion Chain

Post by storewanderer »

retailfanmitchell019 wrote: October 15th, 2022, 1:15 pm
storewanderer wrote: October 15th, 2022, 1:03 pm Did not see any liquor in the store; may have missed it.
Maybe the owner is religious enough not to sell alcohol. Williams, a small Oklahoma chain that bought some Albertsons stores, didn't sell alcohol at the time due to the owner's religious objections.
Space is really an issue. Also maybe it was locked up somewhere.

I was surprised how much in store prep they were able to squeeze into a Fresh & Easy.
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Re: Island Pacific-Fresh & Easy Conversion Chain

Post by norcalriteaidclerk »

The elk Grove f&e has been converted into an island Pacific.The big ethnic chains have a scant Sacramento presence for the most part.

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Re: Island Pacific-Fresh & Easy Conversion Chain

Post by HCal »

Haven't heard of this market, but it reminds me of Royal Fresh in North Hollywood, which still has a lot of the Fresh & Easy signage and even uses the same font and a similar clock logo.

I'll have to find an Island Pacific one of these days and drop in.
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Re: Island Pacific-Fresh & Easy Conversion Chain

Post by storewanderer »

I wonder who is behind this Royal Fresh. Same receipt software and same shelf tags as Island Pacific...

Some of these ethnic operators are actually getting the volumes Fresh & Easy was projecting to get, out of what is it, a dozen or so of the locations...
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Re: Island Pacific-Fresh & Easy Conversion Chain

Post by HCal »

storewanderer wrote: October 15th, 2022, 11:47 pm I wonder who is behind this Royal Fresh. Same receipt software and same shelf tags as Island Pacific...
It's owned by a local Armenian guy, who was in the news a few years ago for shooting members of an Armenian gang that tried to extort him in the parking lot of the store.

No idea if it's connected to Island Pacific in any way. Maybe they use the same supplier that provides shelf tags?
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Re: Island Pacific-Fresh & Easy Conversion Chain

Post by storewanderer »

HCal wrote: October 16th, 2022, 12:23 am
storewanderer wrote: October 15th, 2022, 11:47 pm I wonder who is behind this Royal Fresh. Same receipt software and same shelf tags as Island Pacific...
It's owned by a local Armenian guy, who was in the news a few years ago for shooting members of an Armenian gang that tried to extort him in the parking lot of the store.

No idea if it's connected to Island Pacific in any way. Maybe they use the same supplier that provides shelf tags?
Yikes. At least he is still there and still has his store. Side line, the history of Numero Uno Markets owner in the 90's is also quite interesting.

Maybe the POS software and shelf tag software are connected.
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