When a Supermarket Is Super

The largest supermarket chains began to abandon black neighborhoods after the Watts riots of 1965. The grocers cited exorbitant insurance costs, crime and the obsolescence of small, inner-city stores as reasons for leaving. The void has been most pronounced in South-Central Los Angeles. But residents of adjacent and relatively more affluent neighborhoods--Baldwin Hills, View Park and Leimert Park--have also been penalized.

Even after the upscale Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza opened about a year ago, the largest grocery chains opted to open no stores within miles of the fashionable mall. Although four Boys markets served the largely black neighborhoods east and west of Crenshaw Boulevard, savvy shoppers understandably wanted more competition and variety. Now they will get it.

Lucky Stores will build a supermarket adjacent to the plaza, thanks to encouragement from Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley and Councilwoman Ruth Galanter--and to the success of the nearby shopping center. At 43,000 square feet, the store will be double the size of the typical grocery in the Crenshaw district.

A new supermarket would not seem to provide an occasion for celebration, but community residents recently cheered Galanter at the proposed site, Crenshaw Boulevard and 39th Street. She fought to attract Lucky Stores to an area written off by most other major grocers.

Supermarkets stabilize neighborhoods. They provide a focal point for community information. That visible vacuum in largely black neighborhoods has forced shoppers to patronize high-priced local stores or drive miles for better buys. The new Lucky store will not only provide a choice, but it may change the attitude of other supermarkets toward the South Side.