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fresh-n-easy

Longtime readers of this blog know we have been predicting for months that Tesco would stanch the flow of red ink from its US subsidiary Fresh & Easy by getting out of the US. The parent company lost more than $1bn in a failed attempt to remake the American grocery market into c-stores on steroids.

Now it has happened: according to this article, Tesco has agreed to sell 150 of its 200 Fresh & Easy locations to private equity company Yucaipa Companies L.L.C. In addition to the stores, the London-based global retailer will also shed its distribution center and a production plant in Riverside, CA. The remaining stores will be shuttered.

Yucaipa are not virgins in the supermarket space, having owned in the past Food4Less, Ralph’s Grocery, Dominick’s Chicago and The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P).

The company is managed by Ron Burkle, big time Democratic fundraiser for Hilary Clinton and a part owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team.

And on a sad note, let us not forget to honor the memories of those who perished 12 years ago today on September 11, 2001.