El Rancho Market locations in Socal, 1979

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runchadrun
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El Rancho Market locations in Socal, 1979

Post by runchadrun »

This is a list of El Rancho Markets from 1979, when they were bought by Hughes.

Sunset and Huntington, Arcadia
320 W Colorado Blvd, Pasadena
Fremont and Huntington, South Pasadena
Warner and Algonquin, Huntington Beach
2722 Newport Blvd, Newport Beach
2555 Eastbluff Drive, Eastbluff (Newport Beach)
University and Michelson, Irvine
23641 Moulton Pkwy, Laguna Hills

The South Pas and Laguna Hills stores are both now Big Lots and the Newport Blvd store appears to be an empty lot. It's on the peninsula so it couldn't have been very big anyway. The current Arcadia store is a replacement store.
socalgrocer

Post by socalgrocer »

Did Hughes operate El Rancho as a banner or did they become Hughes?

Also, could any post a picture of the Hughes sign from the Monterey Park location? I used to enjoy drawing it when I was a kid. (The sign was the one on a triangular holder at the Atlantic/Emerson traffic signal, now replaced by a Ralphs sign without the triangle).

socalgrocer
Dean
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Re: El Rancho Market locations in Socal, 1979

Post by Dean »

runchadrun wrote:This is a list of El Rancho Markets from 1979, when they were bought by Hughes.

Sunset and Huntington, Arcadia
320 W Colorado Blvd, Pasadena
Fremont and Huntington, South Pasadena
Warner and Algonquin, Huntington Beach
2722 Newport Blvd, Newport Beach
2555 Eastbluff Drive, Eastbluff (Newport Beach)
University and Michelson, Irvine
23641 Moulton Pkwy, Laguna Hills

The South Pas and Laguna Hills stores are both now Big Lots and the Newport Blvd store appears to be an empty lot. It's on the peninsula so it couldn't have been very big anyway. The current Arcadia store is a replacement store.
Thought of this chain...and was wondering:

From the locations listed, were the sites a la Bristol Farms? Catering to the high end?
Jeff
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Re: El Rancho Market locations in Socal, 1979

Post by Jeff »

Update on sites:

320 W Colorado Blvd, Pasadena - Became Hughes, now Ralphs Fresh Faire
Warner and Algonquin, Huntington Beach - Its actually on Algonquin just north of Warner. Looks vacant today. May have been a Ralphs.
2555 Eastbluff Drive, Eastbluff (Newport Beach) - Ralphs Today.
University and Michelson, Irvine - Ralphs
klkla
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Re:

Post by klkla »

socalgrocer wrote:Did Hughes operate El Rancho as a banner or did they become Hughes?
I remember the Pasadena store having a sign that said "Hughes El Rancho".
rich
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Re: El Rancho Market locations in Socal, 1979

Post by rich »

the one in Arcadia used "El Rancho" alone into the 80s.

They also gave S&H Green Stamps for awhile, when hardly anyone still had stamps--late 70s, beginning of the 80s, I seem to recall. I think by then Blue Chip was gone. Smith's Food King had used S&H in the eraly 70s. Mayfair & Alpha-beta started with S&H, but later switched to Blue Chip.
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enginecapt
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Re: El Rancho Market locations in Socal, 1979

Post by enginecapt »

I distinctly remember one on East Chapman in Orange, although I can't be sure if it was still in operation in 1978. It certainly was in 1975.
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somuchtoseeanddo
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Re: Re:

Post by somuchtoseeanddo »

klkla wrote: 22 Sep 2009 13:27
socalgrocer wrote:Did Hughes operate El Rancho as a banner or did they become Hughes?
I remember the Pasadena store having a sign that said "Hughes El Rancho".
Hughes rebuilt the Arcadia Store and the sign read "Hughes El Rancho." Ralphs later added on to the rebuilt store. I believe the store in Huntington Harbor had "Hughes El Rancho" as well. The store I worked in South Pasadena kept the cool neon sign with the flashing lights inside the "El Rancho" portion of the sign, even after they were purchased by Hughes.

The South Pasadena was store #1, Arcadia was store #2, Pasadena was store #3, then came the Orange County locations. Hughes put a 4 in front of the El Rancho store #s, and Ralphs put a 7 in front of the Hughes store #s, So if you go into the Pasadena Ralphs Fresh Fair on West Colorado Blvd, you will see that is store #743.
Starman918
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Re: El Rancho Market locations in Socal, 1979

Post by Starman918 »

I remember an El Rancho store in Yuma, Arizona at 4th Ave. and 16th St.
klkla
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Re: El Rancho Market locations in Socal, 1979

Post by klkla »

Starman918 wrote: 13 Nov 2020 15:11 I remember an El Rancho store in Yuma, Arizona at 4th Ave. and 16th St.
That was a different chain acquired by Arden-Mayfair, Inc. in the 1950's or 60's that lasted until the mid 1980's.

A lot of Latino markets still operate under that name in a lot pf places, such as this one in Los Angeles:

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.0780471 ... 384!8i8192
reedb
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Re: El Rancho Market locations in Socal, 1979

Post by reedb »

I worked at El Rancho in Arcadia from 1974 to 1977 as a "Ranchero" (that's how we were known, not boxboys or baggers) and then as Assistant Beverage Clerk at the Pasadena store in 1977 until I transitioned into restaurant management. With a name like El Rancho, you would think it was a Hispanic grocery store, but we were like any other local grocery store at the time, like a Vons or a Ralphs but, at least at the Arcadia store, we served a fairly affluent local clientele. Some of the customers would tip us quite well for taking their groceries out to their car for them. And just to update some of the previous posts about some of the old El Rancho locations, the Arcadia store eventually became a Ralphs, and decades later became H-Mart. The South Pasadena store was a Big Lots location for many years, but when Big Lots moved to the empty Toys R Us location in Alhambra, the South Pasadena location became Grocery Warehouse. El Rancho may be gone but is not forgotten. Good times working there!
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