Ralphs El Segundo to become Fresh Fare

[HelloOutThere]

The Ralphs in El Segundo at Sepulveda and Mariposa is my "work" grocery store since it's near my office, and I stop in there often. Today I learned from a cashier that the store is undergoing a transformation into a Fresh Fare. Since Friday, they've already stripped the walls and started what looks like prepping the floor (currently polished concrete) for new overlays. So looks like they're moving fast. A Starbucks will be going in where the existing floral area is (there is a full Starbucks just across the parking lot). It will also get a full-fledged Fresh Fare deli offering.

Funny, as I was just wondering why this Ralphs isn't a Fresh Fare. It's one of the only major grocery stores in all of El Segundo (the other being a Whole Foods), it's surrounded by office workers during the day so lots of daytime / lunch traffic, is across the street from two hotels (used to be the decrepit old Hacienda Hotel - now the property is split into an Aloft and a Fairfield Suites), and is directly next to an extended stay hotel. The cashier said the store does tons of business.

FWIW, this Ralphs is one of the nicest Ralphs stores - of any level - that I have seen. Always clean, well-stocked, and the employees actually seem to have pretty good attitudes. It's got a nice high ceiling with skylights so it gets natural light during the day, and it's even quite aesthetically pleasing from outside with a kind of colorful rustic mission theme. I actually prefer it (as-is) greatly to the Manhattan Beach Fresh Fare, which has low ceilings, feels packed to the gills, offers less selection on center store items, and is always a sh*t show in terms of customer traffic.

Seeing the various posts about "regular" Ralphs getting ugly remodels such as in Torrance and Venice had me worried that El Segundo would get ruined, but hopefully it turns out nice.

I'm new to this board and follow grocery stores as a kind off odd side-hobby, so I'm not sure how usual or unusual it is for an existing Ralphs to convert formats?

[klkla]

Most of the Fresh Fare stores were originally plain-Jane Ralphs but this the first conversion I've heard of in a while. Looks like El Segundo is progressing nicely. It wasn't that long ago the area had an almost slum-like reputation.

[CalItalian]

Most of the Fresh Fare stores were originally plain-Jane Ralphs but this the first conversion I've heard of in a while. Looks like El Segundo is progressing nicely. It wasn't that long ago the area had an almost slum-like reputation.

El Segundo also contains one of the few non-ghetto 99 Cents Only stores. It's a pleasure to shop in that store (which also has concrete floors and is attached to a 3-story parking garage). The Rite Aid in El Segundo was also recently remodeled.

I agree I can't recall a recent Ralphs conversion to Ralphs Fresh Fare (I also can't think of ANY Ralphs Fresh Fare that has returned to being a regular Ralphs). The first Ralphs Fresh Fare ever was Wilshire and Bundy. Almost all the Ralphs on the westside - all north of the 10 Freeway - have been converted to Ralphs Fresh Fares (except Santa Monica and Westwood which were opened as Ralphs Fresh Fare locations).

[CalItalian]

It should end up looking like Manhattan Beach, only a bit larger. That's the current Fresh Fare look (Westwood being the most recent remodel).

[SoCalShopper1023]

Seeing the various posts about "regular" Ralphs getting ugly remodels such as in Torrance and Venice had me worried that El Segundo would get ruined, but hopefully it turns out nice.

The latest iteration of the Fare Fare interior actually looks very nice. Look at the Ralphs in Downtown LA, and Westwood, those Fresh Fare stores have recently been remodeled in the past year. Chances are the El Segundo store will look very similar to those stores.

[storewanderer]

El Segundo is a great volume store and a nice store. This is a good move for them. That store has heavy traffic being near LAX and various hotels are within walking distance. I always found the parking lot there to be more than a little bit chaotic because the store was so busy, at all hours. The area seems safe to me; I've walked between it and a couple of the hotels 3-4 blocks from it very late at night and had no issues. There were some dark spots, but I didn't have any problems. The area generally seemed very busy.

[CalItalian]

El Segundo is a great volume store and a nice store. This is a good move for them. That store has heavy traffic being near LAX and various hotels are within walking distance. I always found the parking lot there to be more than a little bit chaotic because the store was so busy, at all hours. The area seems safe to me; I've walked between it and a couple of the hotels 3-4 blocks from it very late at night and had no issues. There were some dark spots, but I didn't have any problems. The area generally seemed very busy.

The parking lot has an odd shape to it because of a few stores (Starbucks/Jersey Mikes), a Chase bank, and a lot of trees that are in different parts of the parking lot. It could use a realignment. The parking lot use to flow freely into the adjoining Extended Stay America but now just pedestrians can freely move between the two.

The Ralphs in Westchester, the closest Ralphs to LAX, has an even worse design to their parking lot. That store appears to me to be even busier.

[HelloOutThere]

Yes, the parking situation appears like it could be tricky (I usually walk there from my office so I am spared). However, it does appear that the lot at least has nice wide spaces.

I've been watching the remodel happen in real-time over the past week. Interesting to see the changes day-to-day. One thing I noticed is there is no "Pardon Our Dust" sign or any promotion that the store is becoming a Fresh Fare. I'd think they'd want to tout this a bit since the store is currently in transition mode.

[CalItalian]

Yes, the parking situation appears like it could be tricky (I usually walk there from my office so I am spared). However, it does appear that the lot at least has nice wide spaces.

I've been watching the remodel happen in real-time over the past week. Interesting to see the changes day-to-day. One thing I noticed is there is no "Pardon Our Dust" sign or any promotion that the store is becoming a Fresh Fare. I'd think they'd want to tout this a bit since the store is currently in transition mode.

Ralphs never puts out "Pardon Our Dust" signs. Sometime during the remodel, a sign might be put up of what is coming soon. They did that close to the end of the remodel in Torrance.

[klkla]

El Segundo also contains one of the few non-ghetto 99 Cents Only stores. It's a pleasure to shop in that store (which also has concrete floors and is attached to a 3-story parking garage). The Rite Aid in El Segundo was also recently remodeled.

I'm pretty sure the actual 99 Cents Only building was the old Mayfair Market in El Segundo. The parking structure was added later. I remember that store was one of the few that got a sign with the new logo in the 1980's that was moved to the store at Fouintain & La Brea when it was closed.