Grocery

Gretchen Hoffman GLENDALE -- Glendale Police are looking for a man who pushed a grocery store employee out of the way and left without paying for a bottle of liquor. An assistant manager at Ralphs, 1010 N. Glendale Ave., was watching a security monitor when he saw a man conceal a bottle of liquor under his sweater at about 8:40 p.m. Wednesday, according to police reports. When he approached the man and asked if he could see the contents of his pockets, the man said he didn't have anything and pushed the employee aside and ran out of the store, according to police.

Ralphs Grocery Co. accused of illegally rehiring workers during store lock outs in 2003-04.GLENDALE -- It was business as usual at Ralphs' seven grocery stores in Glendale and Burbank Friday in the wake of a 53-count indictment filed by a federal grand jury Thursday, but one local couple said if the chain is found guilty of violating criminal labor law they will shop elsewhere. The indictment alleges that Ralphs Grocery Co., the owner of about 270 Los Angeles-area supermarkets, secretly and illegally rehired hundreds of locked-out employees under false names and false Social Security numbers during the 2003-04 grocery workers lockout.

Glendale's grocery stores were few and far between In the early 1900s. Although not much is known about the Verdugo Cash Store, pictured here, it stood on Verdugo Road somewhere near where Glendale High School now stands, according to a caption on the back of the original. From the picture, all we can tell about the Verdugo Cash Store was that it offered good service and advertised Peerless Poultry Supplies, Alsen Cement, and Schilling's Best. Although the "Glendale Community Book," edited by E. Caswell Perry and Carroll W. Parcher, has no information on the Verdugo Cash Store, it does include references to other grocery stores.

Opposition to a planned Walmart in Burbank surged this week as critics demanded the city first address promised traffic improvements before allowing the mega-retailer to move in. Backed by an attorney for the powerful United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 770, opponents packed the Burbank City Council Chambers on Tuesday demanding due consideration be paid to the impact a Walmart would have on an already congested network of roads surrounding...

Smart & Final is hoping its low-cost model will be a hit as it ventures further into the region’s grocery market. The retailer, which has historically focused on economy-sized packaged items for parties and businesses, opened one of its new Smart & Final Extra! stores in Glendale in October. The store includes a produce section and other grocery offerings, like a deli, frozen foods and fresh meats. The company also closed its Burbank store Friday for major remodeling and will reopen it in the first quarter of 2010 with a larger emphasis on grocery items, said Randall Oliver, spokesman for the retailer.

MONTROSE — A new Trader Joe’s and a revamped Vons here could spell trouble for the area’s only independent grocer. Cordon’s Ranch Market, known for its low-priced conventional goods and wide selection of imported items, will inevitably lose some of its lean customer base if Trader Joe’s decides to follow through on plans to move into a lot less than a mile away, owner Gus Malouf said. The market relies on loyal customers who buy from its distinctive stock of items like Polish pastas, Russian sodas and Armenian pastries, but has seen business drop by about 40% since the recession kicked in and may not be able to sustain another decline in activity brought on by a nearby competitor, Malouf said.

The Glendale City Council voted 4-0 to have staff prepare an ordinance requiring grocery stores and other stores that use shopping carts to implement a containment system for those carts. The ordinance will be designed to prevent the proliferation of loose carts around the city. The ordinance will not specify how the stores contain the carts, allowing the store to choose from a range of options. Vons uses a physical barrier that prevents carts from leaving the store, and has box boys carry grocery bags to cars.

The Oct. 16 News-Press reports that a 21-year-old motorcyclist was killed in a collision with a left-turning car on Honolulu Avenue at Glenwood Avenue in Montrose. This is the section of Honolulu where the speed limit was recently increased. This is also the corner where a pedestrian was killed in the crosswalk a few years back. The crosswalk has since been moved eastward and a signal installed at the new crosswalk. The news report does not estimate how fast either vehicle was moving; but I suspect that at least one was in excess of the new speed limit.

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE -- In a neighborhood where it's not unusual to see elderly women walking home with plastic shopping bags of vegetables, the loss of a neighborhood grocery store hurts. The doors were locked Monday at Spector's Super Mercado, 1104 E. Chevy Chase Drive, shuttering the once-vibrant grocery store. Single bags of Funyuns lay in boxes, and newspapers were strewn about the darkened store. Through the mail slot wafted the scent of meat left in the display cases just beyond the doors.

CENTRAL GLENDALE — The success of Target’s new produce sections has laid the groundwork for the company to add fresh fruits and vegetables at its Glendale store by next year, a company spokeswoman said Thursday. The Minneapolis-based discount retailer opened a produce section at its Burbank store last month, hoping to give shoppers an option to catch up on more of their grocery shopping while browsing the store for its traditional offering of household goods, said Hadley Barrows, a spokeswoman for Target.

The Ralphs grocery store on Glendale Avenue will be closing next month, a company spokesperson confirmed Tuesday. The store, which has operated at 1010 N. Glendale Ave. since 1994, is slated to close on April 12, according to Ralphs spokeswoman Kendra Doyel. She said the decision to close the store wasn't a reflection of the Glendale market overall. “It's not that we're moving out of Glendale. It's just a business decision was made on this particular location,” she said.

A Glendale man in a white converted ambulance was arrested Sunday night after he stole a 55-year-old woman's purse, groceries and a plate, police said. Vahik Khajehkian, 50, was taken into custody about 7:45 p.m. when officers spotted him rummaging inside the ambulance, which was parked in the 1200 block of Allen Avenue - not far from the robbery, according to Glendale police. Under the ambulance, officers found a bag containing the woman's groceries and plate, police said. The Glendale woman bought a plate from the Goodwill Store and groceries from Jons International Marketplace in the 1700 block of West Glenoaks Boulevard before walking home.

Glendale could become the next major city in Los Angeles County to ban plastic bags at grocery stores after the City Council takes up the matter at its meeting Tuesday night. It's a proposal the city's been mulling over for years, but that only now has come back in the form of an ordinance. Glendale's proposed ban is modeled off a countywide ban that took effect in 2011, but would go a step further by including farmer's markets and all city-sponsored events, as well as any event held on city property.

Glendale is set to become the next major city in Los Angeles County to ban plastic bags at grocery stores after City Council members on Tuesday were unanimous in their support of the new law. “It's a no-brainer,” said Councilman Dave Weaver. “It's inevitable. It's got to happen. We're just going to join in the crowd.” Glendale will be following in the footsteps of cities that have enacted similar rules, including Los Angeles, Pasadena and Laguna Beach. But Councilwoman Laura Friedman said the city shouldn't stop at grocery stores, suggesting that the ban be extended to other retailers in the future.

One moment, Mourad Halabi and his daughter were unloading groceries from the trunk of their Lexus. The next, there was a crash, bang, flash and an airplane next to their front yard. “I was shocked. The noise was very loud,” Halabi said Tuesday morning as utility crews worked to replace three power poles taken down by the single-engine Cessna when it crash-landed at about 8:30 p.m. on Monday. The plane came to rest upside-down in a front yard of the house next door to Halabi in the 1200 block of Glenwood Road.

More than 100 shoppers woke up early or altered their morning routines to be on hand for the grand opening of the Sprouts Farmers Market in La Cañada Flintridge Wednesday. The opening came two years after the announcement that the former Sport Chalet Sportland building at 920 Foothill Blvd. was going to be replaced by a Henry's supermarket. A year later, Henry's merged with Sprouts, an Arizona-based chain, delaying plans for the new store. Sprouts operates more than 100 stores in California, Arizona and Colorado, and has stores in Pasadena and Burbank.

Opposition to a planned Walmart in Burbank surged this week as critics demanded the city first address promised traffic improvements before allowing the mega-retailer to move in. Backed by an attorney for the powerful United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 770, opponents packed the Burbank City Council Chambers on Tuesday demanding due consideration be paid to the impact a Walmart would have on an already congested network of roads surrounding...

An attorney for a local commercial and food workers union is now representing two Burbank residents who oppose plans for a new Walmart. He is threatening legal action if the city doesn't address their concerns. The addition of Gideon Kracov, who represents United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 770, into the fray brings some legal muscle to a table crowded by residents who don't want a Walmart in the city, and city officials who say there's little they can do under zoning law to prevent it. Last week, Kracov went before Council asking that several of his questions about the project be addressed as an agenda item.

LA CRESCENTA — La Crescenta shoppers will soon have to stick to paper or reusable grocery bags after the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday enacted a sweeping ban on the use of single-use plastic bags. The board voted 3 to 1 Tuesday to approve the ban for unincorporated areas and encouraged the 88 cities across the county to follow suit. Currently, only Malibu has a similar ban in place. Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who represents the La Crescenta area, voted against the ban, which he said would cause additional financial burdens on small retailers and consumers.

CITY HALL — The City Council tonight is expected to introduce an agreement to lease city-owned property in Montrose to Trader Joe’s for a new store. Under the proposed lease agreement, which would require a City Council vote next week, the grocery chain would build a 14,670-square-foot single-story store at 2448-2468 Honolulu Ave. The site at the corner of Honolulu and Orangedale avenues was previously home to a Ford dealership, but has been used as a public parking lot across from the Montrose branch library and fire station.