Fresh & Easy soft openings

It's still more than a week before the official launch of the much-awaited British grocery chain, but MetroBlogging posts that several stores have quietly opened - just to get things fine-tuned, as often happens with restaurants and retailers. A Hemet location supposedly opened two weeks ago and sales have exceeded expectations (whatever those might have been). Several more soft openings are in the works, including one in Glassell Park, according to Curbed LA. The early start is probably a good idea because Fresh & Easy, a unit of the British retail giant Tesco, is not your typical grocery. It's a hybrid store about the size of a large 7-Eleven, with lots of freshly prepared foods and a sophisticated use of technology (a customer loyalty card, for example, will provide the F&E folks with all kinds of data on what you buy). Officially, six stores will open on Nov. 8 in L.A., Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties - and many more after that as part of Tesco's U.S. expansion (LABO).