Busted!

Fresh and Easy just had their grand opening today in their Chula Vista location. It's on East H Street right in front of K-Mart. Incidentally, there will also be a new food market NEXT to K-Mart called North Park Produce which is just a stone's throw away from Costco. Read about the opening here in today's paper.

Well folks, during my first visit there, I got BUS-FKNG-TED!

Why?

They saw me taking photos (I was trying to be discreet but probably their security cameras saw me too. Right after I checked out of their self-serve line, a security guy approached me and said, "You were taking pictures". Of course I said, "Yes". He said he was calling the manager. To appease them and also to avoid more trouble, I told them I would delete the photos which I did, in front of the guy who watched as I deleted the photos. The manager (a young lady in her 20's it appeared to be) came over and I showed her my camera's images to prove they were erased. She said that photos of the outside of the store was okay but not inside and no pictures of any of their products. It was all very low key. No one seemed to be paying attention to my transgression.

I didn't make a big stink of it and the store staff didn't either. It was just embarassing. I will be very wary from now on taking pictures in any store that has a camera inside. Maybe I'll need to wear a disguise next time I go here. Ha ha.

So let this be a caveat to all of you who plan to visit this place and perhaps sneak in a few shots for your food blogs...

This was my 2nd time I was told not to take photos in a store. The first time was at Dean and DeLuca in NYC.

My verdict of the store will be written up either in the next post or after a 2nd ofr 3rd visit (if it's warranted). I bought a few food items and one non food item. I also used my $5 coupon from a mailer sent last week. Every shopper also got a free large plastic shopping bag on the way out.