Retail giant Tesco has reduced the store hours at some its Fresh & Easy locations in the US, reportedly placing jobs at risk.
A spokesperson for the retailer told just-food today (14 August) it has “adjusted” store hours at some of its stores to “reflect the trading patterns at certain locations”.
According to US reports, around 33 of its 199 stores have reduced trading hours with staffing “adjusted accordingly”.
It is understood the stores in question, which were originally open between 8am and 10pm, have changed their opening hours to between 9am and 8pm.
The spokesperson did not comment on how many jobs might be at risk.
“There is certainly no mandate, it is up to each store. Each store manages its own calendar and its own employee list so they will review that [staffing numbers] by store but this isn’t something new, this is something we’ve always done to adjust trading times.”
The spokesperson said he could not say how many stores would be adjusting trading hours.
“It is up to each store how they manage their hours inside their stores and how they manage the workload.”
Last month, Fresh & Easy cut jobs at its headquarters in Los Angeles. A spokesperson reiterated at the time that it was taking “a more cautious approach to expanding Fresh & Easy, focusing on getting existing stores to profitability”.
In April, Tesco said it intended to bring the US chain back to profitability before pushing on with expansion plans.
