Tesco's Fresh & Easy Collects Holiday Trash

  • December 28, 2007
Proving that it intends to woo American consumers with retail options that are timely, convenient, and more politically correct than the average supermarket, Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market says it will recycle holiday greeting cards.

The U.K.-based retailer says it has installed drop boxes at each of its 27 U.S. grocery markets, sprinkled around Southern California, Nevada and Arizona. Proceeds from the sale of the recycled cards will go to American Forests, a non-profit organization that focuses on planting trees in restoration areas throughout the country.

The move is just one more way Fresh & Easy is trying to carve out a unique niche in a crowded marketplace. With U.S. stores that have been open just longer than a month, Tesco has been positioning Fresh & Easy as a green retailer. It also has committed to build LEED-certified buildings and to recycle or reuse all shipping and display materials.

It also has voluntarily joined the California Climate Action Registry to disclose its greenhouse gas emissions and invested in what it claims is California's largest solar roof installation on its distribution center in Riverside.

So far, the company has said it plans to have 50 stores open in the U.S. by February and 200 by the end of next year. But Tesco, one of the biggest retailers worldwide and one of Wal-Mart's most formidable competitors, has said it plans to spend $2 billion on its U.S. rollout.

--Sarah Mahoney

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