Tesco has opened its first Fresh and Easy store in the US.
The first Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market opened last week in the city of Hemet, outside Los Angeles.
Five more stores will open this week in southern California, followed by openings in Las Vegas and Phoenix (Arizona).
Tesco will plough at least£250 million a year into US expansion, which has proved a difficult country to crack for other high-profile retailers, including Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s.
Tesco plans to open 50 US stores under the green and white Fresh & Easy banner by the end of the year and will add a further 200 by the end of 2008.
The Fresh & Easy store format is a quarter of the size of traditional US supermarkets and aimed at a convenience market. More than half of the products are sold under Fresh & Easy’s own label.
The Hemet store has a hot food counter selling pre-prepared foods and customers are required to scan their own goods at the checkout.
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