Ralphs Misplaces a Market; Anaheim Reaps a Tax Plum
Fullerton has come up with an empty shopping basket.
Until a few days ago, city officials were preparing to reap new taxes from one of the largest grocery stores in the world--a 104,000-square-foot Ralphs Giant supermarket that is scheduled to open today.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Aug. 7, 1986 FOR THE RECORD
Los Angeles Times Thursday August 7, 1986 Orange County Edition Business Part 4 Page 2 Column 6 Financial Desk 2 inches; 66 words Type of Material: Correction
A story in Tuesday’s editions reporting that Fullerton city officials were expecting tax revenue from a new Ralphs Giant supermarket and were chagrined to learn that the store actually was in Anaheim was incorrect. Although Ralphs’ officials had mistakenly advertised the store’s location as Fullerton, officials in that city said they knew of the error. Ralphs’ Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Byron Allumbaugh’s first name also was misspelled in the article.
But officials in neighboring Anaheim--to the chagrin of Fullerton’s leaders and public image officials at Ralphs--have discovered that the super supermarket won’t be in Fullerton at all. Despite weeks of advertisements touting Ralphs’ new Fullerton store, the building actually is on the edge of Anaheim.
So the multimillion-dollar supermarket, expected to generate up to $50 million in sales each year, will be paying taxes to the city that Disneyland calls home.
And Ralphs officials are suddenly faced with the prospect of explaining to officials in both cities--and to consumers all over the county--that, well, mistakes do happen.
“We had to change the name of the supermarket the very last minute,” said Bryon Allumbaugh, chairman and chief executive of Compton-based Ralphs. The Ralphs Giant Fullerton Store has become Ralphs Giant Orangethorpe Store--named after the street it is on rather than the city it isn’t in.
And to avoid further embarrassment, Ralphs has opted to skip the traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony when it holds it grand opening today--thus relieving itself of the difficulty of deciding which city officials--if any--would get to wield the scissors.
The massive supermarket is the first of 14 so-called Giant stores that the chain plans to open in the Southland over the next three months, including five in Orange County. The store, which will employ 220, will be three times the size and stock twice the inventory of a conventional Ralphs.
Two more Ralphs Giant supermarkets are scheduled to open in Orange County within the next month.
One, in Santa Ana, is to open Aug. 26.
The second is scheduled to open Sept. 3. Ralphs says it’s in Anaheim, but who knows? The company says it’s right on the border with Buena Park.
