Grocery

LA CRESCENTA — With two weeks left before the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station must deliver toys and food to 170 local needy families this holiday season, deputies say they still need lots of supplies. Volunteers through the station are planning to distribute toys and bags of groceries Dec. 19 to families, but have collected 50 crates’ worth of food and need to fill 150 more, community relations Deputy Jorge Valdivia said. More families are in need this year than in the past, he said.

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.

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.

A few months back, the Desi Geestman Foundation supported a Burbank family by providing a $200 grocery card. Around the same time, another $200 was given to a San Gabriel family to assist in covering funeral expenses after the father was laid off. An additional $500 went toward a rent payment for a family whose son was a patient at the City of Hope for a bone-marrow transplant. There are more examples of how families in the area and around Southern California are struggling to pay for medication, grocery bills or housing while coping with children who have cancer.

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.

Arnold Milner first became an active community member when his family moved to Glendale more than 40 years ago. His original concern about abandoned grocery store shopping carts led to his involvement with the Committee for a Clean and Beautiful Glendale, he said. After struggling with the campaign for years, the City Council passed an ordinance requiring stores to use containment devices to keep carts from leaving their premises. His dedication to the project changed the way the community looks, Neighborhood Services Administrator Sam Engel said.

DOWNTOWN ? The Station fire brought surges in sales and activity to local businesses that far overshadowed any effect Michael Jackson?s funeral had on the region, managers said. Hotels that had geared up in recent weeks for increased activity related to the pop star?s burial instead saw major boosts from the local wildfires, managers said. Residents who fled from their homes also brought substantial fluctuations in business to stores and restaurants on Foothill Boulevard. While the Jackson event was a letdown for local hotels, reservations were still above average, managers said.

When consumers buy organic products, they expect items that have followed the U.S. Department of Agriculture?s guidelines for all natural. How Los Angeles County is monitoring those organic claims is the question Supervisor Mike Antonovich wants answered. On July 21, the county Board of Supervisors approved a motion by Antonovich that directs county officials to conduct a study to determine the accuracy of organic claims made by supermarkets. ?Consumers have the right to know the foods advertised organic are organic,?

CENTRAL GLENDALE ? Shop owners along South Central Avenue are on heightened alert after police said a man ? matching the description of a suspect who robbed a Pizza Hut on the strip two weeks ago ? tried to rob a Domino?s Pizza up the street Tuesday. Two Domino?s employees were preparing to close the restaurant on the 700 block of South Central Avenue at about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday when a man, who was holding a gun, began banging on the front glass door, Glendale police Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.

GLENDALE — The days of the plastic bag option at checkout stands in Glendale could be numbered, or at least significantly reduced, as city officials consider following in the footsteps of a growing number of cities that have banned the bags. San Francisco County, in a trailblazing move last year, banned nonbiodegradable plastic bags for supermarkets and other large retailers with annual revenue of more than $2 million. Since then, a growing number of cities and counties have been adopting their own restrictions, bans and voluntary measures to reduce the amount of plastic bags generated mostly at grocery store chains.