cookiesinheaven

Gelson's Market, a photo by jericl cat on Flickr.

Designed by Stiles Clements, the shiny new Gelson’s Market was modernistic in design and had the air of a building set in a tropic land. Inside, from roof to floor, the market’s front had a glassed instead of a cement front, an industry first. It was completely air-conditioned and heated. Huge circulating fans and giant heaters guaranteed a complete circulation of clean, fresh air of proper temperature every five minutes. Specially designed fixtures in all departments afforded ample display of the peerless selection of items which Gelson’s handled. 

Spacious aisles — which would become a Gelson’s hallmark — and large shopping carts were available to make shoppers’ selection of merchandise a pleasure. The first Gelson’s also set the stage for what would become Gelson’s tradition of exemplary meat and seafood. The store had an ultra-modern, self-service Meat Department, with stainless steel and enamel cases running the building’s full length. Behind these cases, in full view of the customers — when you’ve got it, flaunt it! — was the meat cutting and wrapping room. - Gelson's

Labels: Anniversary, Gelson's, grocery stores, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Supermarkets

Tesco’s Fresh & Easy stores may be small, but their impact on the American grocery industry probably won’t be. Tesco opened 30 of these 10,000-square-foot supermarkets throughout Southern California and in Las Vegas and Phoenix in November and December. And the company says it will open 20 more by the end of February.

...“This is going to be absolutely huge,” said Phil Lempert, a food industry analyst and the founder of SupermarketGuru.com, an industry newsletter. “Eventually, Fresh & Easy could have more of an impact on American health than any other retailer.”

What sets this concept apart is not the fresh, high-quality offerings, which are similar to those of Bristol Farms, Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods Market, sources say. It is the fact that those fresh, high-quality offerings are priced low — a kind of amalgamation of the virtues of Wal-Mart and Whole Foods.

...Tesco has promised to open stores in traditionally underserved areas, such as South Los Angeles, which has lacked affordable, quality grocery stores ever since the destruction of its big supermarkets in the 1992 race riots. - Shopping Centers Today

Labels: shopping, Supermarkets

• Workers haven't received a pay raise since 2002
• The stores want to up (some by 100%) their medical co-pays
• The stores want to add a third tier for paying lower wages compared to the current two tiers
  
• They are trying to drive out older workers then hire younger, much lower paying employees

Attorney General Bill Lockyer today won a landmark court ruling that holds grocery chains are liable for any antitrust violations arising from a profit-sharing agreement they entered prior to the start of a months-long labor strike in Southern California that ended February 2004.

"This ruling, the first if its kind in history, is a significant legal victory for consumers and law enforcement officials, not just in California but potentially across the country," said Lockyer. "The decision stands for the principle that businesses cannot violate the most basic tenet of antitrust law, conspiring to keep prices artificially high, and then escape accountability just because they broke the law during a labor strike." - California Office of the Attorney General

Ralphs pleaded guilty in July to felony charges including indentity theft, money laundering, obstruction of justice, false use of a social security number and conspiracy arising from the company's ill-fated plan to secretly rehired striking or locked-out workers during a work stoppage in 2003 and 2004. The court imposed a $20 million fine and ordered Ralphs to pay $50 million in restitution to an 19,000 workers and their unions.

..Judge Anderson remarked that the company's conduct displayed a "pervasive and powerful corporate culture that exalted the value of profits and win at any costs above the rule of law." - California Wage Law blog

Labels: strike, Supermarkets

With a $15,000 grant from Share Our Strength, the New Orleans Food and Farm Network created the Neighborhood Food Access Map, a project that identifies where to find food from grocery stores, farmers’ markets, restaurants and emergency kitchens. The maps, posted in New Orleans neighborhoods and distributed to community organizations where residents can easily find them, have been such a huge success that an online mapping tool has been added to make it even easier for people to access the information.

Learn more about Share Our Strength’s ongoing efforts to support relief in the Gulf Coast.

An NPR story on the lack of SuperMarkets in the Big Easy.

Labels: New Orleans, Share Our Strength, Supermarkets