Fresh & Easy unveils Design-A-Bag winner

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Fresh & Easy 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 already is 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.

According to the company, 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 Freshandeasy.com/friends.

"We set out to design a desirable and affordable bag people actually want to use and reuse, 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."