Jefferson Park Report
- Details
- Category: Community News
- Published on Friday, 12 October 2012 13:47
- Written by Norman Gilmore
Albertson’s and Ralph’s Out, Fresh and Easy and Maybe Trader Joe’s In.
Jefferson Park, Baldwin Hills, and Leimert Park are about to experience tremendous turnover in grocery stores. Albertsons and Ralphs have both announced that they are leaving Crenshaw. Albertsons announced this month that they are closing 18 stores in Southern California, including the Baldwin Hills Albertsons. Ralphs and the former Rite Aid on Crenshaw and Rodeo are going to be torn down.
The new development proposed for Crenshaw and Rodeo is called “District Square.” Councilman Wesson and his staff have been working on this for several years. Stores being recruited have included Target, Marshall’s, Ross Dress for Less and other retail outlets, including full-service restaurants. It seems likely that a Target would include grocery sales, as they have been expanding in that area.
At a public meeting in Baldwin Hills, a Ralph’s Southern California executive said that they are NOT bringing Ralphs back to Crenshaw and Rodeo. Instead, they will be spending $18 million dollars upgrading the Ralphs at La Brea and Rodeo, and will be expanding that store into the former Treasure Hunt space.
Losing two grocery stores is a big deal, but the new Fresh ‘n’ Easy has been under construction at Crenshaw and Rodeo for several months. This is a project of West Angeles Community Development Corporation, partnered with major Los Angeles developer CIM Group. United Neighborhoods Neighborhood Council (UNNC) and the community had input into this project, and we did request and get some important design improvements, such as outdoor seating so you can eat your Fresh ‘n’ Easy food, bike racks, and better pedestrian activation of the design on the Crenshaw side (which is design code for a door instead of a blank wall.)
And this week we learned from Sylvia Lacy at Council District 10 that Trader Joe’s wants to gauge the level of support for a Trader Joe’s on Crenshaw at Rodeo. So I created an online petition supporting a Trader Joe’s on Crenshaw at http://jeffersonparkunited.org/. Remarkably, the petition has received over 400 online signatures in less than two days and is still climbing.
As one of the representative’s for Jefferson Park on the UNNC Board, I know that over the years the subject of a Trader Joe’s in our neighborhood has come up often, and usually the conversation ranges from anger to disillusionment. So I knew there was a tremendous desire for a Trader Joe’s in our area, but the explosion of enthusiasm from this tentative exploratory request is phenomenal. If we want a Trader Joe’s, we will have to show them that we want it more than USC and downtown. Please feel free to contact me at:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to learn how you can show support for a full line of grocery store options in our community.
Reader George Van Wagner writes:
"Talking to several of the employees at the Baldwin Hills Albertson's, they said that they are _not_ closing, but rather the store at La Brea and Rodeo is the one targeted for closure. Either their management has misled them, or the facts of this story are in error."
Reporter Norman Gilmore responds "Actually, it looks like my story was correct. I said the Baldwin Hills Albertsons is closing, which is the one on La Brea and Rodeo.