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Ralphs history
Ralphs company history timeline
Ralphs teamed with S. A. Francis in 1873 to open the Ralphs & Francis store at 5th and Hill – an area which would become the Historic Core of the city in the early 20th century, but then a mostly residential area with many single-family houses.
Ralphs Grocery Company was founded in 1873 in Los Angeles by George Albert Ralphs and his brother, Walter Benjamin Ralphs.
1874:Ralphs and his brother Walter launch Ralphs Bros.
In 1875, Ralphs’ brother Walter bought out Francis’ share, and the business became the Ralphs Bros.
1911:First branch store is opened.
The company employed notable architects in designing its stores, and the former Ralphs Grocery Store building built in 1929 in Westwood Village has been photographed by Ansel Adams, declared a Historic Cultural Monument, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Family owned until 1968, Ralphs went through two complicated mergers to arrive at its high profile status within the food retailing industry, eventually becoming a unit of food retailing giant Kroger Company.
In 1968, Ralphs was acquired by Federated Department Stores, based in Cincinnati.
1976:Byron Allumbaugh is named CEO.
In 1988, Campeau launched a $4.2 billion hostile takeover of Federated stock.
By 1990, the company had lost $51.3 million on revenues of $2.8 billion, and the losses threatened to continue unless some sort of restructuring took place.
1990-99: More Mergers and Further Growth
In 1993, only a few years after Ralphs' flirtation with disaster, Food-4-Less approached the company with a friendly merger proposition.
In 1994, Ralphs was acquired by the Yucaipa Companies for $1.5 billion.
In 1996 alone, Burkle and his team opened 27 new stores, a number which equaled half of all the new grocery stores in Southern California.
In 1997, Yucaipa sold Ralphs to Portland, Oregon based Fred Meyer, owner of several chains in the west.
In 1999, Ralphs purchased about 30 Albertsons and Lucky stores, mostly in Northern California, as well as stores in the Central Coast region, and one store each in Bakersfield and Laguna Beach.
In 2000, the company began transforming some of its stores into markets offering high-quality gourmet food products, known as Ralphs Fresh Fare.
Such an increase in activity did not go unnoticed by California's antitrust officials, however, and by the next year the company was forbidden to open any new locations around Los Angeles until 2003.
Ralphs operated in Northern California until January 2006, when they announced that all but one Ralphs in northern California would close.
Also, in August 2006, Ralphs finalized plans to sell eleven (of thirteen remaining) Cala-Bell Stores to Harley DeLano, who previously ran the chain.
On July 20, 2007, Ralphs opened a new 50,000-square-foot (4,600 m) store on 9th and Hope Street in the South Park neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles.
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Ralphs competitors
| Company name | Founded date | Revenue | Employee size | Job openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kroger | 1883 | $147.1B | 465,000 | 9,658 |
| Sprouts Farmers Market | 2002 | $7.7B | 35,000 | 879 |
| Whole Foods Market | 1978 | $16.0B | 91,000 | 1,786 |
| Rite Aid | 1962 | $24.1B | 50,000 | 1 |
| Big Lots | 1967 | $4.7B | 22,900 | - |
| Kohl's | 1962 | $16.2B | 110,000 | 1,468 |
| Vudu | 2004 | - | 180 | - |
| The Home Depot | 1978 | $159.5B | 500,001 | 26,013 |
| Jo-Ann Stores | 1943 | - | 23,000 | 1 |
| Vons | 1906 | $2.6B | 44,000 | - |
Ralphs history FAQs
Zippia gives an in-depth look into the details of Ralphs, including salaries, political affiliations, employee data, and more, in order to inform job seekers about Ralphs. The employee data is based on information from people who have self-reported their past or current employments at Ralphs. The data on this page is also based on data sources collected from public and open data sources on the Internet and other locations, as well as proprietary data we licensed from other companies. Sources of data may include, but are not limited to, the BLS, company filings, estimates based on those filings, H1B filings, and other public and private datasets. While we have made attempts to ensure that the information displayed are correct, Zippia is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the use of this information. None of the information on this page has been provided or approved by Ralphs. The data presented on this page does not represent the view of Ralphs and its employees or that of Zippia.
Ralphs may also be known as or be related to Ralphs, Ralphs Grocery Co, Ralphs Grocery Company and Ralphs Grocery Company, Inc.