Compton, Calif. experienced a taste of British royalty Thursday when Prince Andrew arrived to mark the opening of a new grocery store owned by the British supermarket giant Tesco.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Burke and Compton Mayor Eric Perrodin were also at the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market at 2175 W. Rosecrans Ave. at Central Avenue.
"I'm delighted to be able to support Tesco as they expand here in the U.S.," said Prince Andrew, 47. "By locating stores in areas like Compton, Tesco's Fresh and Easy will help contribute to local job creation in neighborhoods that badly need it."
Fresh and Easy currently operates 43 grocery markets in Southern California, Nevada and Arizona. Two weeks ago, the company opened a store on Hollywood's iconic Walk of Fame.
A group called the Alliance for Healthy and Responsible Grocery Stores had criticized Tesco for not opening more stores in underserved urban communities.
"We applaud Tesco for opening a Fresh & Easy in Compton. However, they have now applied for permits for at least 70 locations in Southern California, and this is the first they've opened in an underserved community -- and they have yet to open a store in South Los Angeles," said Elliott Petty, a retail analyst for the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy. "For a corporation that came here proclaiming it was different because it would open stores in communities historically ignored by other grocers, one out of 70 sure reeks of tokenism," he said.
Compton, best known as the birthplace of gangster rap group NWA, was ranked the fourth most dangerous district in the US in a 2006 survey, with a murder rate several times higher than the national average.
The Compton Fresh & Easy will employ 22 people. All entry-level positions pay well over the minimum wage, starting at $10 an hour, with a quarterly bonus of up to 10 percent. Also, all employees work a minimum of 20 hours a week and are eligible for healthcare insurance.
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