Groceteria.com

Went to thanksgiving dinner in Huntington Beach tonight and stumbled upon this gem... Presumably closed in 2006 -2007, and replaced with a store a couple streets down, this 70's-era store sports a well-preserved early-mid 90's interior complete with the aisle signs! Those who've known the Ralphs chain, these are a rare treat, since Ralphs is known for pretty consistently updating most of their stores.

Starting here on my Flickr stream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ssbn737rm/ ... otostream/

I'd venture a guess that produce floor was recently installed in the past few years.

It is nice of Ralphs to keep upgrading and remodeling stores. Meanwhile I keep shopping in this:

At least Kroger, to my knowledge, spared Ralphs(and QFC and Fred Meyer) of its "millennium" package that seemed to have been generously applied to to the company's other banners. In the case of the Smith's pictured, the millennium decor would have been a welcome change.

How many Ralphs have intact interiors from Smith's, Hughes, Alpha Beta/ABC, Boys or Viva or even Market Basket? I doubt any as Ralphs has been consistent with remodeling its stores. But if some have survived, they would be great finds that are likely to be gone soon, or they have survived because they were sold to an independent before a remodel was done.

If I am not mistaking, the Ralphs (former Alpha Beta) on Workman Mill Road in an unincorporated area of LA county still has the original Alpha Beta design (slightly repainted) from after they took over the store from Alpha Beta. This store is tiny compared to most and is still in operation. I havent been here myself since before the summer.

Storewanderer has pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/socalretai ... 040852236/

Covina had its Alpha Beta repainted interior till it closed earlier this year.

Also the Ralphs in Anaheim on Lincoln Ave had its original interior. It closed as well.

Jeff wrote:Also the Ralphs in Anaheim on Lincoln Ave had its original interior. It closed as well.

Is this the one you speak of, on Lincoln just east of the 57?

Well, I read that it was closed, however its still open according to the ralphs website. Sorry my mistake.

"The" 57

romleys wrote:"The" 57

My bad, I've been away from Southern California for so many years I forgot that "The" was a proper name prefix when referring to freeways :)

submariner wrote:Is this the one you speak of, on Lincoln just east of the 57?

I suppose it's just a coincidence that those aisle markers look nearly identical to the ones Kroger used in the 1980s; roughly ten years before its empire and Ralphs' were wed together...

Andrew T. wrote:

submariner wrote:Is this the one you speak of, on Lincoln just east of the 57?

I suppose it's just a coincidence that those aisle markers look nearly identical to the ones Kroger used in the 1980s; roughly ten years before its empire and Ralphs' were wed together...

Those aisle markers were from the Alpha Beta era... it seems that in the 80's and early 90's most grocery stores got their signs from common sources. I've seen a different variation, but identical signs in a Ralphs, Vons, and Winn Dixie (see the comments on this photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ssbn737rm/4137015405/ )

Its weird that the old Alpha Beta decor is still looking good today. I mean compared to other interior packages that have come and gone since the early 90's, these still look good today.

This was the Alpha Beta late 1980's decor package just before American Stores sold off the chain to Yucaipa/Food4Less.

The new King Ranch #3 in Covina (425 S Citrus, former AB and Ralphs 623) did an interior remodel but they kept the lettering and style. This is the store that moved from 150 9th Street at Azusa Ave in Azusa (to make way for Target) and to replace the vacant Alpha Beta-Ralphs. It is what I call an inverted store where the interior is remodeled so much that there are almost no traces of the previous store left AND produce department moved from the right hand side to the left hand side. In other words, at King Ranch, the tortillaria replaced the Ralphs produce section and the new produce section replaced the refrigerated/frozen section. Actually, the meat is where is used to be, only they turned it into service meat. The Ralphs service deli was renovated to include new appliances/equipment and cases. I mentioned in another post that this location and others that were former Alpha Betas are run by a phantom licensing subsidiary of Ralphs Grocery Company simply called "Alpha Beta Company" (liquor licenses may say Alpha Beta Company dba Ralphs XXX).

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