From The Sunday Times (UK)
> February 22, 2009
>
> William Kay, Los Angeles
>
> The head of Tesco’s US operation, Fresh & Easy, has said its early
> market research was mistaken and it may make big changes to the stores.
>
> “We may have assumed that certain elements of the Fresh & Easy brand
> would do the work for us and we would not have to go down and dirty on
> price. That may have been a mistake,” said Tim Mason, head of Tesco’s
> US business.
>
> Ahead of Fresh & Easy’s launch in November 2007, Mason trumpeted the
> in-depth research that was done to identify a gap in the West Coast
> grocery market.
>
> Marketing director Simon Uwins said: “We went into people’s houses,
> talked to them about food and food shopping. We went into their
> kitchens and poked round pantries.”
>
> Unfortunately, Mason now admits, they did not poke around their
> garages, where they would have found huge freezer chests bulging with
> stockpiled meat bought on special offer.
>
> “There’s less loyalty in the American market,” said Mason. “A Brit has
> to hear it a few times before you accept that people make up their
> mind where to go each week when they check out the special offers
> round the kitchen table.
>
> “In a key moment at a focus group, one man told them that he had
> stopped shopping at Fresh & Easy because they no longer sent him a
> flier promoting the latest special offers.
>
> “We came out of that meeting and said we had better make sure we hit
> everyone in the area with fliers.”
>
> Recession has slowed expansion. There are 113 Fresh & Easy outlets and
> plans to have 200 branches have been put back at least six months.
