http://supermarketnews.com/retail-finan ... a-march-31
The only location that I know any history about is the Santa Barbara location. It was once a Safeway. When Vons bought Safeway the FTC made them sell it and it became a Scolari's (another Vons down the street was also required to be sold but it was not operated as a supermarket after the merger).
1988 sale of the Safeway now Fresh Market location... http://articles.latimes.com/1988-05-28/ ... way-stores
The Fresh Market to Exit California by March 31
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Re: The Fresh Market to Exit California by March 31
I cannot believe the money and time this company has wasted on this ill-fated California expansion. It must have been someone's pet project who is no longer with the company.
The store in Laguna Hills just opened in July 2014. Santa Barbara opened in December 2013.
They opened 3 stores in Sacramento area a couple years ago. The first one they opened in Roseville was well run and a good location for them. It had a trickle of traffic, but never too much. At their prices they don't need too much traffic and I think this store had potential to be profitable after a few years as long as they kept executing it well. Shortly after they opened up in two BAD locations in Sacramento and Elk Grove. The Sacramento store had the right demographics but the wrong location and never did much business. I was only in it once before it was liquidated so I can't comment on how it was run. The Elk Grove location had the wrong demographics, was run VERY poorly based on the 4-5 visits I made, and was not in the right location. I don't think the Sacramento and Elk Grove locations were in operation for more than nine months.
I was in Santa Barbara in January this year and stopped into their store twice. The first day, a weekday midday, it was slow. Employees were reading magazines at checkout. While looking at bulk candy an employee walked up right beside me and reached his hand into the container and grabbed a handfull of red licorice bites. The employee then went back to stocking shelves. The store had little produce out. Bakery and deli looked decent, meat didn't look great. None of the employees acknowledged me. When I went to pay I was severely undercharged for my items and when I brought it to the cashier's attention she did not care, she just wanted to get back to her magazine. I went back on a weekend midday and though I saw many of the same employees, I saw more customers, so things seemed a bit more orderly. Also this store had a security guard which I found odd for this format.
Actually, I liked this format. They had a great bakery, great candy area, good private label coffee that was an excellent when on sale, and the deli seemed promising. I think they had no business coming to California in the first place and the locations they picked were just odd. Also their employees aside from the store in Roseville were not consistent with the quality of employee I would expect to find in a upscale store. Reminded me more of the quality of employees you find in a discount store.
Their website still shows "announced leases" in California too
CA Palm Desert El Paseo Square shopping center
CA Yorba Linda 18171 Imperial Hwy.
The store in Laguna Hills just opened in July 2014. Santa Barbara opened in December 2013.
They opened 3 stores in Sacramento area a couple years ago. The first one they opened in Roseville was well run and a good location for them. It had a trickle of traffic, but never too much. At their prices they don't need too much traffic and I think this store had potential to be profitable after a few years as long as they kept executing it well. Shortly after they opened up in two BAD locations in Sacramento and Elk Grove. The Sacramento store had the right demographics but the wrong location and never did much business. I was only in it once before it was liquidated so I can't comment on how it was run. The Elk Grove location had the wrong demographics, was run VERY poorly based on the 4-5 visits I made, and was not in the right location. I don't think the Sacramento and Elk Grove locations were in operation for more than nine months.
I was in Santa Barbara in January this year and stopped into their store twice. The first day, a weekday midday, it was slow. Employees were reading magazines at checkout. While looking at bulk candy an employee walked up right beside me and reached his hand into the container and grabbed a handfull of red licorice bites. The employee then went back to stocking shelves. The store had little produce out. Bakery and deli looked decent, meat didn't look great. None of the employees acknowledged me. When I went to pay I was severely undercharged for my items and when I brought it to the cashier's attention she did not care, she just wanted to get back to her magazine. I went back on a weekend midday and though I saw many of the same employees, I saw more customers, so things seemed a bit more orderly. Also this store had a security guard which I found odd for this format.
Actually, I liked this format. They had a great bakery, great candy area, good private label coffee that was an excellent when on sale, and the deli seemed promising. I think they had no business coming to California in the first place and the locations they picked were just odd. Also their employees aside from the store in Roseville were not consistent with the quality of employee I would expect to find in a upscale store. Reminded me more of the quality of employees you find in a discount store.
Their website still shows "announced leases" in California too
CA Palm Desert El Paseo Square shopping center
CA Yorba Linda 18171 Imperial Hwy.