Fresh & Easy will be closing 50 of its stores, but the closures will not directly impact the potential for a store to open at 7500 Melrose Ave., company representatives said.

The supermarket chain will close and then attempt to sell 30 stores in California and 50 stores overall. The company is operating 167 total stores in California, Nevada and Arizona.

“We have spent much of the past year and a half transforming Fresh & Easy to fulfill our vision of creating modern convenience,” the company said in a statement. “We wanted to give every location a chance to succeed in our new format, but recognized that some locations would not meet the criteria for modern convenience. While the decision to close any store is a difficult one, we believe it is important to take this opportunity to reinvest in Fresh & Easy.”

Fresh & Easy came to America in 2007 via British supermarket company Tesco. However, the market chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2013. It was then sold to Yucaipa Cos., which reduced the number of stores and has been retooling the company’s concept with new pilot stores in Nevada.

The Melrose Business Improvement District (BID) has been vocal about its support for a Fresh & Easy at the 7500 Melrose Ave. location. Previous building tenants moved out in 2012, and the building has since been vacant.

Late last week, a sign went up in a window at the 7500 Melrose Ave. property advertising that it was for sale.

Melrose BID executive director Donald Duckworth said he spoke briefly with the broker for the property, and he believes it is for lease or for sale, in parts or as a whole.

“Certainly that is not beyond the realm of possibility,” Duckworth added.

Fresh & Easy officials said the sign was nothing to worry about, and that the company was simply looking to activate the space, if possible, while they work on plans for the future Melrose store.

The 7500 Melrose Ave. property is estimated to be 15,000 square feet. Fresh & Easy, on the other hand, has been piloting a store concept between 3,000 and 5,000 square feet. It might be feasible, Duckworth said, that part of the building would be used for something else, along with the market.

The pilot stores have been described as similar to Whole Foods Market, with “fresh food convenience”. ADMI, which designed the Apple computer stores, was hired to create the new Fresh & Easy stores.

Duckworth said the Melrose BID remains optimistic a new Fresh & Easy will eventually move into the 7500 Melrose Ave. location, but it will ultimately be up to the Yucaipa Cos. Owners of the property.

“They own the property and they get to figure out when they will move ahead and spend the money. It’s going to be a wait-and-see kind of thing,” Duckworth said.