Thrifty Will Use Black Firms, Workers to Rebuild 3 Stores

Thrifty Corp. said Wednesday that it will rebuild three of its stores destroyed during the 1992 riots and that African-Americans and contractors based in South Los Angeles will get at least half of the reconstruction work.

The Los Angeles-based company, operator of Thrifty drugstores, announced the arrangements at a news conference at Rodeo Place and Crenshaw Boulevard--the location of one of the destroyed stores and the site of the company’s first reconstruction project.

The other two sites are at 3230 W. Slauson Ave. and 3550 S. La Brea Ave. Rioters destroyed four Thrifty stores and looted 17 other outlets last spring.

Chris Bement, spokesman for Thrifty, said the prime contractors for the $1.3-million Rodeo-Crenshaw operation will be Long Beach general contractor Har-Bro Inc. and an African-American partnership involving Los Angeles contractor William J. Collins and a trade group called the Southern California Black Carpenter’s Assn. Of the 15 subcontractors selected for the Rodeo-Crenshaw project, 14 are black-owned operations.

Bement said Thrifty will ensure that at least 50% of the workers at all three reconstruction sites are African-Americans. The company also said it plans to award at least 50% of contracts for the Slauson and La Brea reconstruction projects to firms based in the communities surrounding those sites.

“This development is significant if Thrifty carries it out,” said Gene Hale, chairman of the Los Angeles African-American Chamber of Commerce. “Overall, I don’t believe blacks are getting a fair shake as far as larger contracts are concerned.”