Letters Back All Bids, Not Just ‘Ralphs Clone’

Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Feuer has sent a letter to the state attorney general’s office asking that smaller chains and independent stores be considered as suitable choices to replace Ralphs supermarkets.

Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles) said he was preparing to send a similar letter Monday addressed to Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren.

Fred Meyer Inc., the parent company of the Ralphs/Hughes chain, must sell 19 Southern California stores to comply with state antitrust laws. The company bought Hughes Family Markets in February.

The two letters come just as a petition drive started last week by the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. asking the attorney general not to consider just another “Ralphs clone” to replace the Hughes at the corner of Van Nuys Boulevard and Milbank Street.

“We just want a market that is representative of the neighborhood it’s in and not just another large store with the same selection as other large stores,” said Dee Gelb, head of the petition drive. Residents are concerned that the attorney general will not consider some of the smaller stores because they would not fit the state’s definition of competitive.

“I understand that some of the smaller independent stores have made viable offers” for the Sherman Oaks store and for the Studio City store on Laurel Canyon and Ventura boulevards, Feuer wrote. “I urge your serious consideration of these offers and a speedy resolution to this matter.”

Staci Turner, a spokeswoman for the attorney general, said her office has not ruled out any store that is willing to make a bid.

“Our objective is that competition be maintained or enhanced,” Turner said, adding that there are a lot of different variables used to determine whether a store would be competitive.

A court-approved consent decree gives Fred Meyer until Thursday to present a list of potential buyers for at least 13 stores. Other bidders are not known, but Bernard Brisken, the president of the Arden Group, the parent company of Gelson’s, has said he bid on the Van Nuys location.