Tesco has described press reports that it will be opening stores in LA and Arizona under the ‘Tesco Fresh & Easy’ label when it debuts in the US market as “a rag bag of gossip, trial terminology and factual inaccuracies.”
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A report in the Financial Times cited US job advertisements for a range of executive positions as saying it was “preparing to launch an unprecedented retail food business in the Los Angeles and Phoenix areas”.
The advertisement, the newspaper said, indicated that Tesco planned to brand its first stores ‘Tesco Fresh & Easy’, with one job description stating that responsibilities would be to “develop and implement, and administer the Tesco Fresh & Easy culture”.
Indeed, Tesco has established US cooperate headquarters in El Segundo, south of LA international airport and purchased a distribution centre in Riverside County, east of LA. The job advertisements, the report said, also indicated that the retailer is planning to locate a second distribution centre in Phoenix.
However, Tesco spokesperson Laura Voyle, told just-food that the rumours are inaccurate.
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By GlobalData“The reports have been taken from an advert in the States. It is a hotch-potch of different information that has been gathered, much of it is speculation and rumour and a lot of it is inaccurate. We aren’t releasing any more information at the moment because a lot of our plans are yet to be finalised,” Voyle said.
In a statement released today (18 May) the retailer said that it would not release any further information at this time. “As we have said before we want to ensure that US consumers get to hear about the stores first so we will tell you more when we are ready,” the company said.
