LOS ANGELES – Fresh & Easy announced plans to close about 50 stores in California, Arizona and Nevada in the coming weeks, as the grocery chain pursues a new business model: fresh food convenience stores.

The company is already working with Apple store designer ADMI on several new concepts, including the convenience stores, which are envisioned as 3,000 to 5,000 square feet, compared with Fresh & Easy's average of 10,000 square feet. The locations being sold are those that don't meet the company’s "model of modern convenience." The approximately 50 stores to be closed by April 3, represent 30% of the company's 167 stores.

This latest move is part of transition is part of the chain’s transition to adjust to a new, highly competitive retail landscape and changing consumer sopping behaviors. Earlier this month, Fresh & Easy launched an e-commerce service in Las Vegas that allows customers to buy groceries online and have the food waiting curbside at the store. The company said it's testing the idea for a wider rollout.

With the changes that Fresh & Easy is exploring, the company is seeking to become more fresh and more easy — an idea that analysts said held promise but was bungled by the firm's former British owner Tesco, costing about $2 billion in losses over five years. Since grocery billionaire Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Cos. bought the unprofitable chain in 2013, Fresh & Easy has introduced about 7,000 new products and fresher food, according to news reports.