Ralphs Opens Downtown L.A. Fresh Fare

ELLIOT ZWIEBACH

LOS ANGELES — "Fresh" arrived in downtown Los Angeles Friday as Ralphs opened Fresh Fare, its first downtown store here — and the first downtown supermarket to open here — in more than 50 years. "We're ready for our close-up," the company said in full-page newspaper ads under the headline, "L.A. is getting fresh." The 50,000-square-foot Fresh Fare — which SN previewed last March — is located at street level of the Market Lofts development in an underdeveloped section of the city south of the financial and business districts and northeast of Staples Center. The site is about a half mile from the location of the first store Ralphs opened in 1873, and it incorporates photos from the history of the chain and the downtown area in its decor. Ralphs closed its last downtown-area store in 1956. Fresh Fare is an upscale format Ralphs developed in the late 1990s that incorporates extensive fresh offerings in the delicatessen, bakery, seafood and meat categories; an expanded wine and spirits department, including a wine cellar; and an assortment of prepared foods geared to a lunch and dinner crowd. "At Fresh Fare the ordinary will become extraordinary," the newspaper ad said. Attached to the Fresh Fare logo was the tagline, "A passion for all that's good."

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