Ralphs

Infobox_Company
company_name = Ralphs Grocery Company
company_
company_type = Subsidiary
foundation = 1873 (Los Angeles, California)
location = Compton, California [http://www.thekrogerco.com/contact/contactus_divisions.htm]
industry = Retail
products = Bakery, dairy, deli, frozen foods, grocery, meat, pharmacy, produce, seafood, snacks, liquor
homepage = [http://www.ralphs.com/ www.ralphs.com]
parent = Kroger

Ralphs Grocery Company is a major supermarket chain in the Southern California area. It is the oldest such chain west of the Mississippi River. Ralphs Grocery Company is the largest supermarket division of Cincinnati, Ohio-based retail conglomerate Kroger.In addition to Ralphs supermarkets, the Ralphs Grocery Company operates stores under the Cala Foods, Bell Markets, Food-4-Less, and FoodsCo names in California as well as PriceRite stores in Nevada. PriceRite stores either closed or converted to Food-4-Less.

History

Ralphs Grocery Company was founded in 1873 in Downtown Los Angeles by George A. Ralphs (1850-1914). The original store was located at Sixth and Spring Streets. In the 20th century, Ralphs became a grocery pioneer, offering self-service markets with checkout stands in distributed locations. The company employed notable architects in designing its stores, and the former Ralphs Grocery Store built in 1929 in Westwood Village has been photographed by Ansel Adams, declared a Historic Cultural Monument and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In the 1980s it created a chain of hybrid supermarket/warehouse stores called The Giant (unrelated to Northeastern chain Giant Food) which failed, but the concept returned with the company's merger with the Food 4 Less discount chain. During the mid-1990s, Ralphs expanded as it merged with many Southern California supermarkets including The Boys, Alpha Beta, Viva, and ABC Markets. Ralphs Grocery Company merged with Fred Meyer, Inc., in 1997. In 1999 Fred Meyer, Inc., parent company of Ralphs, merged with The Kroger Company. The company slogan is "First in California."

In 1999, Ralphs purchased about 30 Albertsons and Lucky Stores, mostly in northern California. The stores were divested as a result of the Albertsons and American Stores merger. Ralphs operated the stores until January 2006, when they announced that all but one Ralphs in northern California would close. In August 2006, the one remaining Ralphs in northern California was given a 60 day notice of closure. Also in August 2006, Ralphs finalized plans to sell 11 (of 13 remaining) Cala-Bell Stores to Harley DeLano, who previously ran the chain. Ralphs expansion into northern California did not work out.

Ralphs opened a new 50,000 square foot store in the South Park neighborhood of Downtown Los Angeles on July 20, 2007 which is located on 9th and Hope St. W/validated parking. This marked the return of the first full-run supermarket in Downtown in 50 years. Ralphs closed a store that had been located at 7th Street and Figueroa in 1950.

2003–2004 strike

Ralphs Grocery Company has contracts with the United Food and Commercial Workers, the largest grocery union in the United States. In late 2003 and early 2004, Ralphs locked out its workers who were members of the UFCW in sympathy with competitor Vons (owned by Safeway Inc.) in Southern California, after the UFCW had declared a strike against Vons. The issues in contract negotiations included healthcare benefits and wage structure, which the supermarkets contended were necessary to reduce their costs and make themselves competitive with discount chains such as Wal-Mart. In March 2004, the strike ended with a settlement regarded as a victory for the grocery chains: new hires would be on a much lower pay scale than existing workers and receive far less generous health benefits.

On October 16, 2006, Ralphs agreed to pay $70 million to settle felony charges that it illegally rehired locked out employees using false names and social security numbers during the strike. $50 million of the settlement will be paid to eligible UFCW members, with the remainder being paid in fines to the Federal government. [cite web|url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20061017/news_1b17ralphs.html|title=Ralphs to Pay $70 Million in Settlement|publisher=San Diego Union Tribune]

In pop culture

* Ralphs appeared in the film "Gus" towards the end of the film.
* Ralphs also appears in the film "The Big Lebowski" in the beginning as does the Ralphs membership card and shopping cart. Walter asks a character towards the end of a movie "Is there a Ralphs around here?"
* Ralphs is mentioned by Seth Cohen in the third season of the television series "The OC".
* Ralphs sponsored a task for "The Apprentice 6".
* Ralphs also appears in Frank Zappa's half-hour story-song "Billy the Mountain", which first appeared on The Mothers' album "Just Another Band from L.A." in 1972. It is there that Studebaker Hawk, the story's "hero", buys parts of his unusual costume.
* Ralphs supplies the food for the reality television show "Big Brother".
* Several Ralph's Stores in Southern California were used for taping of TLC's Take Home Chef in 2006 & 2007 starring Curtis Stone.
* In the Powerpuff Girls cartoons, there was a parody of Ralphs supermarket, called Malphs.
* In a guest strip by Janet Kim, on the popular website http://fanboys-online.com [http://fanboys-online.com/index.php?cid=255] , Shigeru Miyamoto appears in a Ralphs line-up.
* Contestants on NBC's "The Biggest Loser" shop at a Ralphs in the episode originally aired September 23, 2008.

References

ee also

* Rock 'n' Roll Ralphs
* Ralphs Grocery Store -- former store in Westwood Village, listed on the National Register of Historic Places