South-Central Celebrates Supermarket
A long struggle by residents to bring a full-service market to their community has culminated with the opening of a Ralphs store in South-Central Los Angeles.
Residents who had hoped for a decade that a supermarket would be built on vacant land celebrated the benefits of their new market, which opened Wednesday in the 2600 block of South Vermont Avenue.
Father William Delaney, pastor at St. Agnes Church across the street from the market and an active voice in the effort to locate it there, said the store has improved the quality of the community.
“The persistence paid off,” Delaney said Thursday. “We now have access to a nearby quality food store . . . and see job opportunities there too.”
The four-acre site that houses the store had been vacant for more than 10 years when a small market was demolished and the property was bought by Food 4 Less. Subsequently, Ralphs Grocery Co. bought Food 4 Less. Negotiations between Ralphs and the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency turned sluggish, triggering protests by community activists.
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