by Timothy Rutt
Yes, the Ralphs grocery store on Lake near Mendocino is the place you want to go if you'd like to flash back to a 1970's grocery store. But why would you want to do that? Harsh fluorescent lighting, no amenities like a deli or coffee cart, possibly the worst carts in the San Gabriel Valley outside of a Big Lots. That's not even talking about the selection.
But a group of residents is trying to do something about it: Ericka Lozano-Buhl has started a petition on the change.org website to try to nudge Ralphs into making improvements to the location. The petition says:
Improve and upgrade store with deli, bakery, meat department, & coffee bar
Ralphs is the largest grocery store in Altadena, which has a population of 42,777 and a median income of nearly $80,000. Yet the store is cramped, with a poor selection of produce and items, and has no deli, bakery, meat department, or coffee bar. These are the types of improvements that people in Altadena want, need, and would patronize in their grocery store. We ask Ralphs to begin a remodel and/or expansion of this location to better serve our community needs.
Carolyn Seitz shared some information about it in a note to the newsgroups:
A few years ago, Ralph's went through the zoning entitlement process to expand the store. That plan and the zoning cases were approved by the County.
The redevelopment of that property and conversation of a new store into a Ralph's Fresh Fair would have included the property at the northeast corner of Lake & Calaveras - where the old WaMu building was.
I believe Ralph's was working on their construction drawings when the owner of the WaMu property decided that he hadn't asked for enough money in the lease with Kroger (Ralph's parent company) and went back to the drawing board.
As I recall it, the owner of the corner property wanted such a large increase in rent or lease that the transaction fell apart.
After that, Ralph's did some retooling of the store, but they don't have enough parking onsite to expand the footprint of the store in its current location.
That doesn't mean it isn't a good idea to lobby Ralph's to make some improvements, but it's also a good idea to know that the expansion originally approved was stymied by the owner of now vacant property at the corner.
Seitz also said that the rumor isn't true that Ralph's couldn't relocate to the WaMu crater area was because it was too close to Eliot Middle School and would inhibit liquor sales. Maybe the soooo attractive crater area needs a petition of its own?
What would you like to see in a grocery store at that location?
