Fresh & Easy Launches Customer-Designed Reusable Bag

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Jan. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market debuted the winning design from its first-ever Design-A-Bag contest in its stores this week. The new reusable bag retails for only 79 cents and has already been a big hit with customers with thousands already sold. The bag's creative design was hand-drawn by Los Angeles resident Josephine Close, who received a year's worth of free groceries for winning the contest.*

The Design-A-Bag contest generated more than 1,300 submissions from customers and 24,000 votes by "friends of fresh&easy" – customers who have signed up to receive the latest news about the company along with exclusive offers at www.freshandeasy.com/friends.  

"We set out to design a desirable and affordable bag people actually want to use and re-use, and we turned to our customers for inspiration," said Roberto Munoz, Fresh & Easy Director of Neighborhood Affairs. "Based on sales of the bag already, we know customers like the design and the price point.  We hope this new bag will continue to encourage customers to use fewer single-use bags in exchange for reusable options."

Fresh & Easy, which has given away more than 1,000,000 reusable bags since opening its first store, launched the Design-A-Bag contest as part of a continued effort to encourage its customers to use reusable bags. More information on Fresh & Easy's Design-A-Bag contest can be found at www.freshandeasy.com/blog.  

*Valued at $5,000

About Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market

Fresh & Easy operates more than 150 stores in California, Arizona and Nevada. In addition to fresh prepared meals, meats and produce, Fresh & Easy offers everyone's favorite national brand products and household items, all at unbelievably low prices. The grocer's popular fresh&easy brand products have no artificial colors or flavors, no added trans fats, no high-fructose corn syrup, and only use preservatives when absolutely necessary.

On average, Fresh & Easy stores use 30% less energy than a typical supermarket, which helps customers save money – and also helps the environment. Fresh & Easy uses LED lighting in external signs and freezer cases, offers customer recycling in every store, and uses advanced refrigeration and freezer units to cut back on energy usage. The company also recycles or reuses all of its display packaging, sending the majority back through its distribution center.

Fresh & Easy is a pilot member of the LEED Volume Certification Program, demonstrating its commitment to build sustainable buildings. The company has also voluntarily joined the California Climate Action Registry and The Climate Registry to disclose its greenhouse gas emissions. At its distribution center in Riverside, the company invested $13 million in a solar roof installation, which at 500,000 square feet is one of California's largest.

For more information about Fresh & Easy, visit www.freshandeasy.com. Also follow the company on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/fresh_and_easy and become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/freshandeasy.  

SOURCE Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market