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.