Why is Ralph’s Kroger’s everywhere not in California?
I’ve lived in Southern California my whole life, and didn’t realize for the longest time that not everyone had a Ralph’s and that it was Kroger’s everywhere else. Why is this? Is it some weird marketing ploy because Californians just like the word Ralph’s more?
Answers ( 1 )
Ralph's started in Southern California, it is ONLY a Southern California enterprise. In a series of merges and sales it went from hand to hand, including merging with Food for Less, being bought by a company that also owned Alpha Beta, then merged more and eventually was sold to Fred Meyer - that's a Portland, Oregon chain, like a supercenter, with groceries, clothing and household goods, then Lucky, Albertsons continuing the merging. Lucky was a market I'd shopped at, and it became a Ralphs. Alpha Beta became a Ralphs, Albertsons remained as Albertsons. Some stores rebranded as Ralphs, but eventually Fred Meyer was merged with Kroger, a company out of Ohio It's like a soap opera all the changes. But Ralphs even through merging, remained a So Cal local supermarket, with other stores being branded by region. Ralphs tried expansion to other areas but wasn't successful. People still like their local markets.
There are quite a number of local and regional supermarkets. Stater Bros is only California, Gelson's is only Southern California, Raley's Markets is only California and Nevada; Smart & Final only operates in California, Arizona, and Nevada; And in other states, D'Agostino, Gristedes, FoodEmporium and Key Foods only operate in New York City; King Kullen, a market my mom used to shop is only on Long Island, NY; Lowes Markets are only North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia; Market of Choice is only in Oregon, and there are quite a number more. While there are corporate owners, the markets don't tend to be regional or local, much I would suggest for availability of product.
Have a look at some of the supermarkets and locations - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_supermarket_chains_in_the_United_States