Fresh & Easy, on Friday, via YouTube has announced that they are going to close about 50 stores, including 30 in the Southland.

CEO Jim Keyes made the announcement in a seven and a half minute video, while explaining the decision to "the Fresh & Easy team".

He explained that the company wanted to give every location a chance to succeed but some of them, due to the physical limitation (like size of the parking lot), were not able to fulfill the expectations.

He said that they have identified about 50 locations that would suit better to a different type of retail. He added that, in the next few weeks, many of the stores would be closed.

The employees who contacted some of the targeted stores told CBS2 and KCAL9 that they have been given an April 3 closing date.

Jasmine Viel from KCAL9 reported from Compton, one of the 30 stores closing locally, where in residents told her that closure of the store in the area would be a big blow.

The video, posted by CEO Keyes, was removed from the YouTube on Sunday evening.

A spokesperson for the company has released a statement to CBS2 and KCAL9, in which most of the things have mirrored the comments that were made by CEO Keyes in his YouTube address.

In the statement, the spokesperson has said that Fresh & Easy has spent most of the past year and a half into transitioning to new ownership that will transform into a new business that will be focused on delivering a new vision of modern convenience.

In the statement, it was mentioned that the company was now in a better position to rationalize its store base and divest locations that are not meeting the criteria of Fresh & Easy's model of modern convenience.

Fresh & Easy has stores in California, Nevada and Arizona.