Tesco unveils name for U.S. stores: Fresh & Easy

Tesco will call its new chain of grocery stores in the U.S. the Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, the British retailer said.

The company was eyeing sites for 300 small grocery stores in Southern California, Las Vegas and Phoenix and was prepared to spend as much as $2 billion over five years on its launch, Tesco USA Chief Executive Tim Mason said. The first stores will open this year.

Each market will be 10,000 square feet, about the size of a Trader Joe’s grocery store. Mason said the relatively small size was meant to offer shoppers a faster, easier experience compared with a large grocery store.

Tesco’s Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, which already employs 150 at its headquarters in El Segundo, expects to grow to more than 2,500 jobs as it hires employees for the stores.

-- Jerry Hirsch