Business and Jobs

Update 06/05/14: I heard yesterday that the Ralph’s closure has been postponed. I had to pick up some things yesterday at Ralph’s, and confirmed this with one of the employees while I was there. The employee didn’t know how long it would be postponed, but thought that it was due to the complaints from the community.

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My neighborhood is abuzz with the news that the Ralphs in Riverside on La Sierra and Indiana will close in July, to be replaced by a Food 4 Less (both Kroger owned grocery chains). I called the Kroger customer service line this morning and was told that this is true.

I have heard from many people who have said that they will not shop at Food 4 Less, but will shop at Stater Bros. across the street instead. There is even a petition on change.org to save the Ralphs at 3350 La Sierra Ave.

I shop at this Ralphs too, and would like to keep it open. It is the closest grocery store to my home. However, I don’t know the store’s financial situation. This may be a smart move by Kroger, or it might be a horrible one because much of its customer base (present and future; there are still homes being built across the street) might shop elsewhere.

Since learning about this, I have not heard very nice things about Food 4 Less. While it is supposedly less expensive, I have heard that it is not as nice as Ralphs, has a smaller selection, and requires the customers to bag their own groceries.

I have never been inside of a Food 4 Less store, so I stopped by the Food 4 Less on McKinley in Corona yesterday to check it out.

(Click for larger images)

During my visit, I saw people bagging their own groceries, so that seems to be true. This seems very inconvenient, especially for parents with small children or people who require physical assistance. Food 4 Less also looks more like a warehouse store than a grocery store, and has fewer choices than Ralphs (at least for the items I buy regularly).

Since I am not the primary shopper in my house, I wasn’t sure about the price advantage, so I decided to price shop a few items at Food 4 Less, Ralphs and Stater Bros.

I looked at four items that I thought each store would stock. The following prices were from yesterday, 04/23/14.

	Food 4 Less	Ralphs	Stater Bros.
1 gallon 2% Milk *	3.39	3.49	3.69
18 Grade AA Eggs **	3.39	3.39	3.49
10 oz Jack Link’s	12.89	12.99	12.99
Fuji Apples, per lb.	0.99	0.99	1.59

 
* Food 4 Less was $3.39 each if you bought two, not sure of the price for one
** Food 4 Less and Stater Bros had Grade AA Large; Ralphs had Grade AA Extra Large

Long story short, if I had bought two gallons of milk, 18 eggs, a bag of beef jerky and a pound of apples (a very possible shopping trip for me), I would have spent $24.05 at Food 4 Less, $24.35 at Ralphs and $25.45 at Stater Bros (before tax). Some of the items were on sale and I didn’t use any coupons. I assume there will always be pricing fluctuations between the stores, but these were the prices I would have paid yesterday.

Just comparing Ralphs to Food 4 Less, I would have saved $0.30 (about 1.25%), but I would have ended up with smaller eggs and would have had to bag my own groceries. Food 4 Less also has a smaller selection and is nowhere near as nice of a shopping experience. Definitely not worth it.

Stater Bros was a little more expensive, but the store is very nice inside and seems to carry a wider selection of groceries than Food 4 Less. I even found a few items that Ralphs doesn’t carry, and when I bought them, the checkers were extremely friendly.

I confirmed with a US Bank rep yesterday, that the US Bank will still be there when the new store opens. When I use the ATM, I will see what this Food 4 Less is like, but I currently have absolutely no plans to shop there. It appears that I am not alone.

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A bit more info if you would like to keep reading:

I actually looked at more items, but they all had different packaging sizes and I would have had to calculate the price per ounce or item. I didn’t think that would have been a fair comparison.

Just in case anyone thinks I’m making up the prices, here are pictures from yesterday:

The milk:

The eggs:

The beef jerky:

The apples:

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Additional pictures added 06/29/14:

I have seen some recent comments about the freshness of Food 4 Less vs. Ralph’s. When I took pictures for this post, I also got some pictures that showed the expiration dates of eggs and milk. I didn’t get pictures of every container, but the pictures I did get show the following expiration dates:

Food 4 Less (taken 04/23/14):
Eggs: 05/14/14
Milk: 05/06/14 – 05/08/14

Ralph’s (taken 04/23/14):
Eggs: 05/05/14 – 05/17/14
Milk: 05/07/14