Seven Fresh & Easy grocery stores to close in Southland

Seven Southland grocery stores are among 12 under-performing locations nationwide to be closed by Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets in an effort to boost profitability, a report says.

The seven stores in Southern California -- in Anaheim, Bakersfield, Baldwin Park, Fountain Valley, Fresno, Hemet and Ontario -- will close within the next few weeks, along with four stores in Phoenix and one in Las Vegas, company spokesman Brendan Wonnacott wrote in an email.

“At this time, there is simply not enough growth in sales and customers at those stores to keep them open,” Wonnacott said. “We will re-open them when economic and business conditions warrant.”

The employees working at the stores will be offered jobs at other Fresh & Easy markets nearby, Wonnacott said.

Despite the store closings, El Segundo-based Fresh & Easy will continue to roll out new stores. More than two dozen locations are to open their doors through March, including seven smaller-format Express stores in Los Angeles and Orange counties and five stores in Sacramento.

Fresh & Easy, a subsidiary of British retail giant Tesco, operates 184 stores in California, Arizona and Nevada.

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