RALPHS

A Ralphs Marketplace in Porter Ranch, Los Angeles, California

Ralph's 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, 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 Albert Ralphs. In the twentieth century it became a grocery pioneer, offering self-service markets with checkout stands in distributed locations. 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-1990's, Ralphs expanded as it merged with many Southern California supermakets 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 Ralph's merged with The Kroger Co. The company slogan is First in California.

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.

See also

• Rock 'n' Roll Ralphs