Ralphs
Overview
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
chain in the Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
area and the largest subsidiary of Cincinnati-based Kroger
Kroger
The Kroger Co. is an American supermarket chain founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It reported US$ 76.7 billion in sales during fiscal year 2009. It is the country's largest grocery store chain and its second-largest grocery retailer by volume and second-place general retailer...
. It is the oldest such chain west of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. Ralphs also operates stores under the Food 4 Less
Food 4 Less
Food 4 Less is a national price-impact warehouse grocery chain, currently owned by Kroger. It is a no-frills grocery store where the customers bag their own groceries at the checkout...
and Foods Co. names in California.
Ralphs Grocery Company was founded in 1873 by George Albert Ralphs
George Ralphs
George Albert Ralphs was an American businessman. He founded the Ralphs supermarket chain in Southern California, with the help of his brother Walter....
. The original store was located at Sixth and Spring Streets in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. In the 20th century, Ralphs became a grocery pioneer, offering self-service markets with checkout stands in distributed locations.
