Ralphs Fresh Fare Trademark

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Ralphs Fresh Fare Trademark

Post by steps »

Randomly I stumbled upon a trademark website and noticed Kroger has not renewed the trademark for "Ralphs Fresh Fare". I searched other Kroger banners and it seems they are up to date.

The trademark is listed as "abandoned" as of 2/2019. Maybe it was an oversight on corporate's part.

I just found it a bit strange they would forget about something like this.
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Re: Ralphs Fresh Fare Trademark

Post by storewanderer »

steps wrote: October 22nd, 2019, 8:56 pm Randomly I stumbled upon a trademark website and noticed Kroger has not renewed the trademark for "Ralphs Fresh Fare". I searched other Kroger banners and it seems they are up to date.

The trademark is listed as "abandoned" as of 2/2019. Maybe it was an oversight on corporate's part.

I just found it a bit strange they would forget about something like this.
I think they still use the trademark so isn't it technically still active?

Tough to imagine they would intentionally abandon that trademark. Lots of stores fly that banner.
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Re: Ralphs Fresh Fare Trademark

Post by steps »

storewanderer wrote: October 22nd, 2019, 9:16 pm
steps wrote: October 22nd, 2019, 8:56 pm Randomly I stumbled upon a trademark website and noticed Kroger has not renewed the trademark for "Ralphs Fresh Fare". I searched other Kroger banners and it seems they are up to date.

The trademark is listed as "abandoned" as of 2/2019. Maybe it was an oversight on corporate's part.

I just found it a bit strange they would forget about something like this.
I think they still use the trademark so isn't it technically still active?

Tough to imagine they would intentionally abandon that trademark. Lots of stores fly that banner.
I would assume so. I'm not familiar with trademark law but, I would assume if you still use it, you own it?

I guess this would be like the Lucky/Grocery Warehouse issue awhile back.
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Re: Ralphs Fresh Fare Trademark

Post by klkla »

The advantage of keeping it active is because the company can more easily collect damages when a violation occurs.

But as mentioned above, as long as they continue to use it they get to keep it.
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Re: Ralphs Fresh Fare Trademark

Post by storewanderer »

klkla wrote: October 23rd, 2019, 8:31 am The advantage of keeping it active is because the company can more easily collect damages when a violation occurs.

But as mentioned above, as long as they continue to use it they get to keep it.
Are they still using Fresh Fare in ads?

It wasn't that long ago El Segundo was remodeled into a Fresh Fare...

Maybe they are doing away with the "sub names" for the stores (Fresh Fare, Signature, etc.)...
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Re: Ralphs Fresh Fare Trademark

Post by CalItalian »

storewanderer wrote: October 23rd, 2019, 8:47 pm
klkla wrote: October 23rd, 2019, 8:31 am The advantage of keeping it active is because the company can more easily collect damages when a violation occurs.

But as mentioned above, as long as they continue to use it they get to keep it.
Are they still using Fresh Fare in ads?

It wasn't that long ago El Segundo was remodeled into a Fresh Fare...

Maybe they are doing away with the "sub names" for the stores (Fresh Fare, Signature, etc.)...
No change in ads. Fresh Fare is alive and well at Ralphs. The stores continue to be remodeled in a different décor than a regular Ralphs, also.
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Re: Ralphs Fresh Fare Trademark

Post by Bagels »

It seems as if Kroger's moving away from the Fresh Fare branding. When a location near me was renovated a few years back, Kroger added the Fresh Fare concepts, and then some -- brick oven pizza cooker, high end wines and Murray's cheeses, the frozen prepared meals section, etc. -- but never added any "Fresh Fare" branding. And at another nearby location, the property owner re-skinned the entire strip mall (removing the legacy Western look, as seems commonplace today); when it was completed, Kroger opted to put a plain "Ralphs" sign up, disposing of the previous "Ralphs Fresh Fare." The interior is unchanged.

Kroger has gradually been transitioning Ralphs into a high-end middle market grocery store (and closing stores that don't fit that model). For example, all stores now sell Boar's Head products, a large selection of organic & cut produce, etc. -- things that were once sold at only Fresh Fares. Heck, 15 years ago "Private Selection" items were largely limited to Fresh Fares! And it was less than a decade ago when pricing varied from store to store, and Kroger ran multiple ad copies within the Greater LA area.

I've noticed that Ralphs are increasingly becoming localized in terms of premium items.... last Christmas, only a handful of stores -- regardless of their FF -- carried the Private Selection premium candies, for example... some stores carry fresh Cheesecake Factory slices, others don't.... some stores carry high-end meat & seafood like Halibut, others don't... I guess Kroger may feel the FF designation is obsoleted.
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Re: Ralphs Fresh Fare Trademark

Post by CalItalian »

Bagels wrote: October 24th, 2019, 7:28 pm It seems as if Kroger's moving away from the Fresh Fare branding. When a location near me was renovated a few years back, Kroger added the Fresh Fare concepts, and then some -- brick oven pizza cooker, high end wines and Murray's cheeses, the frozen prepared meals section, etc. -- but never added any "Fresh Fare" branding. And at another nearby location, the property owner re-skinned the entire strip mall (removing the legacy Western look, as seems commonplace today); when it was completed, Kroger opted to put a plain "Ralphs" sign up, disposing of the previous "Ralphs Fresh Fare." The interior is unchanged.

Kroger has gradually been transitioning Ralphs into a high-end middle market grocery store (and closing stores that don't fit that model). For example, all stores now sell Boar's Head products, a large selection of organic & cut produce, etc. -- things that were once sold at only Fresh Fares. Heck, 15 years ago "Private Selection" items were largely limited to Fresh Fares! And it was less than a decade ago when pricing varied from store to store, and Kroger ran multiple ad copies within the Greater LA area.

I've noticed that Ralphs are increasingly becoming localized in terms of premium items.... last Christmas, only a handful of stores -- regardless of their FF -- carried the Private Selection premium candies, for example... some stores carry fresh Cheesecake Factory slices, others don't.... some stores carry high-end meat & seafood like Halibut, others don't... I guess Kroger may feel the FF designation is obsoleted.
Ralphs has never actively pursued Fresh Fare branding and they are the originator of "Fresh Fare" (Wilshire at Bundy in 1998) which came along well before Kroger took them over.

Most Ralphs Fresh Fares never got a brick oven pizza cooker including their premier Fresh Fare location, Westwood. They've always carried high end wines but so do many "regular" Ralphs. Murray's is something Kroger stuck in Ralphs and not just Fresh Fare locations.

All stores have sold Boars Head products for a very long time. It's the depth of the line that differs from store to store. I've found larger "regular" Ralphs locations that carry more Boars Head than Fresh Fare locations (example Culver City Ralphs Fresh Fare vs. Temecula Ralphs)

Ralphs never had multiple ads that carried more than a few items that varied in pricing and that was mostly a few meat and produce items (unlike Vons' Pavilions). Prior, Fresh Fare locations only carried USDA Choice and USDA Prime meats but after that changed to all Ralphs locations, meat pricing, with a rare exception, became uniform (other than grand openings/reopenings and stores in heavy ethnic areas). As for produce, Ralphs locations that are in heavy ethnic areas, still have produce items advertised that are slightly different than most other Ralphs/Ralphs Fresh Fare locations (example Hawthorne Ralphs vs. Westwood Ralphs Fresh Fare).

Private Selection was introduced as a store brand in all Ralphs locations. Again, it was the depth of the line that varied by store and at Fresh Fares. Ralphs has never mass marketed Fresh Fare locations as being higher end with exclusive products and ads unlike Vons did with Pavilions (and as Albertsons in the recent couple of years has reverted to doing).

I can go from one Ralphs to another - which is better accomplished through their app and is remarkably accurate - and see what one store carries over the other. I can't assign a Fresh Fare vs. regular Ralphs line in the sand for what one location will carry, premium or not, over another location. Other than décor and some higher end items, there is no clear difference between a regular Ralphs and Fresh Fare location. And that statement is more true now than ever before even though the difference was never really great.
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Re: Ralphs Fresh Fare Trademark

Post by CalItalian »

One thing that Ralphs did do in the last year or so was stop treating San Diego County differently than the rest of the Ralphs chain. While the rest of the chain has had 30% off 6 bottles of wine for a decade, in San Diego County it has fluctuated over the last 4-5 years from 15% to 20% to 25% to 30%. Now all Ralphs are in alignment on pricing as they once were.

Ralphs also in the last two months changed their Buy 5, Save $5 Mega promo which comes up for multiple weeks every month. Prior, you had to buy in multiples of 5 (5, 10, 15 etc.), mix or match, from a large group of products. Now, they are equal to Vons/Albertsons/Pavilions Fab 5 promo where you must buy 5 or more (5,6,7 or whatever amount over 5 you wish).
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Re: Ralphs Fresh Fare Trademark

Post by Bagels »

CalItalian wrote: October 25th, 2019, 9:41 am
Bagels wrote: October 24th, 2019, 7:28 pm It seems as if Kroger's moving away from the Fresh Fare branding. When a location near me was renovated a few years back, Kroger added the Fresh Fare concepts, and then some -- brick oven pizza cooker, high end wines and Murray's cheeses, the frozen prepared meals section, etc. -- but never added any "Fresh Fare" branding. And at another nearby location, the property owner re-skinned the entire strip mall (removing the legacy Western look, as seems commonplace today); when it was completed, Kroger opted to put a plain "Ralphs" sign up, disposing of the previous "Ralphs Fresh Fare." The interior is unchanged.

Kroger has gradually been transitioning Ralphs into a high-end middle market grocery store (and closing stores that don't fit that model). For example, all stores now sell Boar's Head products, a large selection of organic & cut produce, etc. -- things that were once sold at only Fresh Fares. Heck, 15 years ago "Private Selection" items were largely limited to Fresh Fares! And it was less than a decade ago when pricing varied from store to store, and Kroger ran multiple ad copies within the Greater LA area.

I've noticed that Ralphs are increasingly becoming localized in terms of premium items.... last Christmas, only a handful of stores -- regardless of their FF -- carried the Private Selection premium candies, for example... some stores carry fresh Cheesecake Factory slices, others don't.... some stores carry high-end meat & seafood like Halibut, others don't... I guess Kroger may feel the FF designation is obsoleted.
Ralphs has never actively pursued Fresh Fare branding and they are the originator of "Fresh Fare" (Wilshire at Bundy in 1998) which came along well before Kroger took them over.

Most Ralphs Fresh Fares never got a brick oven pizza cooker including their premier Fresh Fare location, Westwood. They've always carried high end wines but so do many "regular" Ralphs. Murray's is something Kroger stuck in Ralphs and not just Fresh Fare locations.

All stores have sold Boars Head products for a very long time. It's the depth of the line that differs from store to store. I've found larger "regular" Ralphs locations that carry more Boars Head than Fresh Fare locations (example Culver City Ralphs Fresh Fare vs. Temecula Ralphs)

Ralphs never had multiple ads that carried more than a few items that varied in pricing and that was mostly a few meat and produce items (unlike Vons' Pavilions). Prior, Fresh Fare locations only carried USDA Choice and USDA Prime meats but after that changed to all Ralphs locations, meat pricing, with a rare exception, became uniform (other than grand openings/reopenings and stores in heavy ethnic areas). As for produce, Ralphs locations that are in heavy ethnic areas, still have produce items advertised that are slightly different than most other Ralphs/Ralphs Fresh Fare locations (example Hawthorne Ralphs vs. Westwood Ralphs Fresh Fare).

Private Selection was introduced as a store brand in all Ralphs locations. Again, it was the depth of the line that varied by store and at Fresh Fares. Ralphs has never mass marketed Fresh Fare locations as being higher end with exclusive products and ads unlike Vons did with Pavilions (and as Albertsons in the recent couple of years has reverted to doing).

I can go from one Ralphs to another - which is better accomplished through their app and is remarkably accurate - and see what one store carries over the other. I can't assign a Fresh Fare vs. regular Ralphs line in the sand for what one location will carry, premium or not, over another location. Other than décor and some higher end items, there is no clear difference between a regular Ralphs and Fresh Fare location. And that statement is more true now than ever before even though the difference was never really great.
For clarification, the stores I was discussing earlier are all Ralphs - the store near me whose shopping plaza was re-skinned previously had "Fresh Fare" signage but now has "Ralphs" signage (the interior is unchanged).

I do believe Kroger (Ralphs division) is walking aware from the Fresh Fare branding. I think that the differences were much stronger, especially 15-20 years ago, than you may remember. Grocery was similar, but the "fresh" departments had more premium, prepared & expanded offerings. I recall buying (marked down, of course) tons of vintage meal kits. Another time I bought a pair of giant, frozen "Private Selection" lobster tails for $10, previously marked at (a ridiculous) $59.99. They had sandwiches in the deli case (I got Ruben, Tri-Tip, etc.) that they'd heat upon request, and premium desserts that they'd finish making in front of you (like fruit tarts and creme brulee). Many of these products still exist in a new incarnation... they've just been expanded into "regular" Ralphs stores, as has a large selection of organic produce, exotic produce, etc.

Many of the changes that have occurred at Ralphs are reflective of Kroger as a chain. Just over a decade ago, most Kroger divisions operated their stores like a local supermarket. The Midwestern Kroger near my parents featured an ice cream line-up that was all local, a deli that sourced most of its products (meats & cheeses, prepared deli salads, etc.) locally, cut/prepared produce from a local produce terminal, etc. Today, it doesn't look much different from a Ralphs. Sure, both stores feature local favorites but I'd guess that the number of identical SKUs is in the high 90s.

One chain wide change Kroger has made in the past decade is that everyday pricing at stores within each division is near universal (with some exceptions due to heavy compeition; e.g. Aldi's is selling eggs for 79c/dozen through October, so the nearby Ralphs lowered its price to 99c/dozen). I can remember when, for example, a jar of peanut butter retailed for $2.99 at one store, $3.49 at another, and $3.99 at a location such as Laguna Beach. And Ralphs definitely ran multiple ads and still occasionally does -- last Christmas, for example, my local ad listed prepared meals like a Crown Roast dinner but when I went into the Lake Forest location, they had a slightly different ad listing the meal kits instead.
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