Ralphs to Build 4 Supermarkets in Poorer Areas : Retailing: The move is expected to create 500 new jobs in the inner city and surrounding communities.

Ralphs Grocery Co. said Thursday that it will spend $30 million to build four supermarkets and create 500 new jobs in poor areas of Los Angeles and surrounding communities.

The first market will be built at Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue in the HollyWest Development Project, a shopping center scheduled to open in early 1995, the Compton-based grocery chain said.

The expansion plan is the latest sign of growing cooperation between the supermarket industry and RLA (formerly Rebuild L.A.), which has been seeking new job-creating investments since the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

Ralphs said the HollyWest development is within an “economically neglected” area targeted by RLA for new investment and that it is seeking three additional sites within similarly designated zones. Most of the areas--chosen because 20% or more of the residents are living below the poverty level--are in central Los Angeles, including Koreatown, Hollywood and Boyle Heights. But other areas are in North Hollywood, Lynwood, Willowbrook and Compton. Also included are sections of communities as disparate as San Bernardino in the Inland Empire, Wilmington to the south and Lake View Terrace to the north.

“Ralphs Grocery Co. is committed to serving all areas of Southern California,” said Chairman Byron Allumbaugh. “We support the efforts of (RLA) and will continue to work with the organization in the further rebuilding of Los Angeles.”

Allumbaugh said the company expects to find the remaining sites and build the other three new stores within two to three years.

Currently, Ralphs has 12 stores in the areas designated by RLA. Two of its stores were damaged during the riots, but were repaired at a cost of $3 million and reopened. In all, Ralphs has 160 stores--all of them in Southern California.

The Ralphs expansion is in step with some other supermarket industry efforts undertaken since the riots. For example, Vons last July announced it would invest $100 million to build grocery stores in neglected inner-city areas over the next five years. It said it plans to build 10 to 12 stores in those areas.

The Smart & Final warehouse store chain and Food 4 Less Supermarkets--operator of the Boys, Viva, Alpha Beta and Food 4 Less stores--also are building new stores in those areas.

In addition, an industry trade group called the Food Marketing Institute has been promoting its “urban initiatives” report--which calls for more supermarket chain involvement in inner-city economic development.

“The food marketing industry has led the way when it comes to new commitments,” said Barry Sanders, co-chair of RLA. “This (expansion) isn’t charity. It makes good business sense.”