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# Plans to open TESCO brand stores in L.A. draws out activists
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/plans-to-open-tesco-brand-stores-in-l-a-draws-out-activists/
- Published: 2007-11-28T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T04:08:01.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Business, Downtown, #archive-import

*Coalition demands promises*

DOWNTOWN SM A band of labor activists, along with religious and community advocates publicly denounced the arrival of a new brand of British-owned grocery stores in front of a luxury hotel on Monday afternoon, criticizing the company’s alleged track record of broken promises made to the neighborhoods they pledged to help.

Angrily raising picket signs high into the sky while at the same time flashing thumbs up gestures toward supportive passersby, members of the newly formed Alliance for Healthy and Responsible Grocery Stores crowded the sidewalk in front of the Viceroy Hotel on Ocean Avenue where Tesco officials were believed to be meeting with potential investors, all in an effort to dissuade those investors from placing a financial interest in a corporation they believe could do harm to Los Angeles neighborhoods.

Tesco is the third largest food retailer worldwide — behind Wal-Mart and Carrefour — and is the parent company for the new Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets located in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada. The United Kingdom-based supermarket company started rolling out the American version of its grocery stores earlier this month in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

The coalition, which includes various local labor unions, faith-based organizations and political groups, argues that the supermarket chain has a poor record on making good on claims that it will bring jobs to low-income neighborhoods, be dedicated to the environment, and provide an excellent workplace. Coalition members cited a recent study by Occidental College that questioned some of Tesco’s practices.

Officials with Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets are just asking the public to be patient.

“We’re asking for an opportunity to open stores and demonstrate (our commitment),” said Brendan Wonnacott, spokesman for Fresh & Easy. “We know trust has to be earned, there is no group of people more committed to doing what we promised than the team at Fresh & Easy.”

The August 2007 report was released in advance of the supermarket’s debut in the United States. Researchers at Occidental College’s Urban and Environmental Policy Institute found that while Tesco has championed making affordable food accessible in low-income communities, only 10 of the first 98 fresh & Easy stores planned in the U.S. are in what would be considered low-income areas. The study also found that while the company promotes a positive work environment, it tends to rely on part-time rather than full-time employees, limiting “the ability of workers to achieve a living wage,” the report states.

The message by the coalition, also plastered on a couple of picket signs, was essentially, “Don’t be Wal-Mart.”

“We want to make sure your past record doesn’t come into Los Angeles,” said Maria Elena Durazo, the executive secretary treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which is a member of the coalition.

The alliance is demanding that Tesco sign a Community Benefits Agreement — a contract between communities and entities in order to guarantee the latter would act on promises. The CBA has effectively been implemented in the past for the development of the Staples Center and the Hollywood and Vine mixed-use project.

“We’re not asking for anything they haven’t (already) promised,” said Elliott Petty, the community organizer for the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, one of the members of the coalition.

The market at this time has declined to sign the Community Benefits Agreement, Wonnacott said.

“We prefer to begin our relationship based on our deeds,” Wonnacott said.

The company plans to open more than 100 stores in its first year of operation. There are already 10 locations in Southern California, including two that opened today in Laguna Hills and Lakewood. Another store is planned for Compton early next year. There are currently no plans to open a store in Santa Monica.

“We have an additional 18 sites that we pulled together and we’re pursuing in the city of Los Angeles, three of which are going to open at the cost of capital and basically we stand committed to locating stores in all types of neighborhoods,” Wonnacott said. “The final status of all sites depends on our ability to negotiate with landlords and (receive) permits in a timely manner.”

The coalition’s rally was joined by several members of the Writers Guild of America, currently in the middle of their own battle with movie studios. The screenwriter’s carried their own signs that read, “We are all on the same page.”

“We’re all workers united to try and get the fairest contract we deserve,” said screenwriter Tim Davis. “We’re not alone in this battle.”

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/112807-03_01.jpg)

for a New Economy COMING TOGETHER: Rev. (Photo: Photo courtesy Los Angeles Alliance)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 28, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/112807.pdf?ref=smdp.com)