Mystery Ralphs location on latimes.com

[runchadrun]

One of the LA Times blogs as posted a picture of a mystery Ralphs location from 1949 and is asking people where it's located. The leading responses are in North Hollywood and Beverly Hills.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2 ... build.html

[Jeff]

Looking at the Live Local, It looks like North Hollywood. the building is still there and fits the shape of the intersection.

[bigbubby]

That looks like the intersection of Lankershim, Vineland and Camarillo in North Hollywood. I recognize the shape of the building and the tower, I used to live near there.

[submariner]

For your enjoyment, from Live Local:



On second thought, it Might not be this location, if you look at the original photo, the angle on the corner entance intersects in an obtuse fashion (i.e. greather than 90°) whereas the NoHo location can't support that angle, and is an acute angle (less than 90°) instead. Thoughts?

[klkla]

The location in North Hollywood was an A&P before it was a Ralphs. I would assume that location would have been an A&P in 1949, but I am not sure.

The two locations look similar but I don't think they're the same. There are some major differences.

Someone on the LA Times site suggested it looks like the corner of Wilshire & Crescent in Beverly Hills:


I would say it probably could have been that location but the building has since been torn down.

[Groceteria]

I'm voting Beverly Hills as well, simply because I have this photo that's tagged Ralphs, Beverly Hills, 1940s. Unfortunately, what I don't seem to have is the source of the photo. But the store seems to be the same:

[Jeff]

I stand corrected. It has to be Beverly Hills.

Look at the street at the bottom right of the picture. I didn't see that till now.

that's a T there.

[klkla]

I don't see the T. Which photo?

Either way, I think we got it. Groceteria's photo is clearly of the same store although from an earlier era based on the growth of the tree. Hopefully someone with 100% certainty will come forward but in the meantime I think this mystery is solved :)

[bigbubby]

Judging by Groceteria's photo and the Live Local shot of Wilshire & Crescent, it has to be Beverly Hills. It looked like North Hollywood at first glance by the tower, but the LA Times photo doesn't show a diagonal intersection, which the NoHo store was/is located on.

[Tortuga One]

The color and black/white pictures appears to be the former Ralphs that used to be on the corner of Crescent and Wilshire. The Beverly Hills Store operated until at least until 1974/1975. That was around the last time that I shopped there as a teenager. Buying junk food of course. The store had been severely modified by that time. I remember that the outside had been tiled over with brownish tiles (with a shine) and that there were no windows, in the same shape as the black and while photograph. It looked like a fortress. Unfortunately I never got a photograph of the store. The parking lot along Crescent was very small as in the photo of the old 1940's Ralphs. I believe sometime in the 1980's the building was demolished and replaced by the current structure. The old Ralphs may have sat vacant for awhile, but I can't remember, despite living in the area and passing it all the time.