Groceteria.com

One of the LA Times blogs as posted a picture of a mystery Ralphs location from 1949 and is asking people where it's located. The leading responses are in North Hollywood and Beverly Hills.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2 ... build.html

Looking at the Live Local, It looks like North Hollywood. the building is still there and fits the shape of the intersection.

That looks like the intersection of Lankershim, Vineland and Camarillo in North Hollywood. I recognize the shape of the building and the tower, I used to live near there.

For your enjoyment, from Live Local:



On second thought, it Might not be this location, if you look at the original photo, the angle on the corner entance intersects in an obtuse fashion (i.e. greather than 90°) whereas the NoHo location can't support that angle, and is an acute angle (less than 90°) instead. Thoughts?

The location in North Hollywood was an A&P before it was a Ralphs. I would assume that location would have been an A&P in 1949, but I am not sure.

The two locations look similar but I don't think they're the same. There are some major differences.

Someone on the LA Times site suggested it looks like the corner of Wilshire & Crescent in Beverly Hills:


I would say it probably could have been that location but the building has since been torn down.

I'm voting Beverly Hills as well, simply because I have this photo that's tagged Ralphs, Beverly Hills, 1940s. Unfortunately, what I don't seem to have is the source of the photo. But the store seems to be the same:

I stand corrected. It has to be Beverly Hills.

Look at the street at the bottom right of the picture. I didn't see that till now.

that's a T there.

I don't see the T. Which photo?

Either way, I think we got it. Groceteria's photo is clearly of the same store although from an earlier era based on the growth of the tree. Hopefully someone with 100% certainty will come forward but in the meantime I think this mystery is solved :)

Judging by Groceteria's photo and the Live Local shot of Wilshire & Crescent, it has to be Beverly Hills. It looked like North Hollywood at first glance by the tower, but the LA Times photo doesn't show a diagonal intersection, which the NoHo store was/is located on.

The color and black/white pictures appears to be the former Ralphs that used to be on the corner of Crescent and Wilshire. The Beverly Hills Store operated until at least until 1974/1975. That was around the last time that I shopped there as a teenager. Buying junk food of course. The store had been severely modified by that time. I remember that the outside had been tiled over with brownish tiles (with a shine) and that there were no windows, in the same shape as the black and while photograph. It looked like a fortress. Unfortunately I never got a photograph of the store. The parking lot along Crescent was very small as in the photo of the old 1940's Ralphs. I believe sometime in the 1980's the building was demolished and replaced by the current structure. The old Ralphs may have sat vacant for awhile, but I can't remember, despite living in the area and passing it all the time.