Ralphs Opening Shows Off the Small Town Side of Downtown
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES —
Ralphs officially opened its 50,000 sq. ft. Fresh Fare at 9th and Flower streets today, with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa cutting the ribbon just after 11:30am. Before that, though, a half hour ceremony included speeches by Congresswoman Lucille Roybal-Allard, Mayor Villaraigosa, Councilwoman Jan Perry, and CCA Director Carol Schatz. Turnout was heavy for the big opening, and even with a heavy media presence the crowd was still slanted in favor of shoppers eager to get inside.
I was talking with DLANC President Russ Brown before the events got started, and he pointed out how well the opening illustrates that Downtown is just a small town with big buildings. We were in the middle of Los Angeles, a city of roughly four million people, and seemingly the entire community -- including City officials -- had turned out for the ribbon cutting at a grocery store.
We'll have more on the store itself later in the day.
That was intense. There were a lot of moms with baby strollers that I feared for--didn't want to see anyone stomp a baby in the mad rush to get inside the store.
But there were coupons!