Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market is planning to expand its presence in the Los Angeles area, said the company’s CEO Tim Mason at the Valley Industry and Commerce Association’s 61st Annual Meeting. The San Fernando Valley is home to four out of seven Fresh & Easy stores in Los Angeles, Mason said. The company’s first store opened in Van Nuys in 2008, with two other local stores later opening in Burbank and Northridge. In September, the company opened another Valley-area store in Sylmar. The company has a total of 155 stores in three states – California, Nevada and Arizona. Los Angeles’s seven-store count wanes in comparison to other metropolitan regions, such as Phoenix with 28 stores and Las Vegas with 21 stores, Mason said. However, the company has a plan to expand in the Los Angeles region, Mason said. “We’ve identified 70 opportunities in L.A.,” Mason said. “If we can open those 70 opportunities, that will be 1,400 jobs, as well as 300 construction workers per site. We’re eager to invest and we want to get on.” The company is also slated to open 22 new stores in the first part of 2011, Mason announced. Three of those stores will be in Los Angeles County, specifically in Long Beach, San Dimas and Walnut Park, said Roberto Munoz, the company’s director of neighborhood affairs, after Mason’s speech. Mason cited that there are challenges to expanding in Los Angeles: the length of time it takes to receive appropriate permits, the cost of infrastructure, a lack of adequate sites and properties and the cost of utilities. Mason propositioned his audience to back the company as it expands. “We do need your help, and we do need your support,” he said, adding that the stores offer affordable, healthy food solutions, oftentimes in communities that are lacking grocery stores. “We offer ourselves as part of the solution to help create sustainable communities and help families eat better and lead healthier lives.” At the event, VICA leaders offered awards to the group’s members for their acts of support. Sharyn Quinn, of L/B/W Insurance & Financial Services, received the 5th Annual President’s Award; Martin Cooper, of Cooper Communications Inc., received the 17th Annual Harmon Ballin Community Service Award; and Waste Management received the 32nd Robert E. Gibson Corporation Award of Excellence. VICA President Stuart Waldman commended Quinn for being highly involved in the organization, serving as a co-chair for the group’s membership committee, a member of the executive committee and a regular participant in VICA events. “She is an example of what a VICA volunteer is,” Waldman said. Cooper, who is involved with various nonprofit organizations, accepted his award by explaining how he encouraged other members of the community to help buy books for children at the West Valley Boys & Girls Club several years in a row. “I am of the belief that a real community leader … is someone who rolls up their sleeves and does things,” he said. Waste Management, which has about 230 employees in the northeast San Fernando Valley, received the Robert E. Gibson Corporation Award of Excellence for its community outreach in Sun Valley. During the meeting, VICA also voted to install its board of directors for 2011, with VICA Chair Daymond Rice set to continue in his post for another year.
