When the shopping list includes textbooks, clothing or a tank of gas, a bit of sticker shock should be expected. Doing a double take over a grocery receipt from Ralphs, however, is an unwelcome yet all-too-familiar experience for the students of Westwood.
Ralphs, which has been accused of overcharging customers in the Los Angeles area, is free to manipulate profits through no fault of its own. It simply lacks the necessary competition to keep its prices low and selection high.
This can only be solved by changing the shopping dynamics in Westwood, which is why the recently formed Westwood Neighborhood Council must make bringing another supermarket to the village a priority.
It may seem like overkill to add another market when three already exist, but Ralphs, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods each fill a different niche in the food service industry.
Whole Foods caters to an exclusive clientele by offering higher quality products at a higher price, and shopping there can by prohibitively expensive on a student budget.
Trader Joe’s is Ralphs’ biggest Westwood competitor, but while prices at Trader Joe’s are similar to those at Ralphs, its breadth of services and selection are not. Trader Joe’s business model is to carry a limited assortment of products under its own label; therefore it does not offer a direct shopping alternative.
Trader Joe’s also does not have a deli, bakery or butcher block, so if you are looking for just a quarter pound of ground beef or that name-brand snack you love so much, you still have to go to Ralphs.
As a result, Ralphs has little motivation to reduce prices or increase selection. It essentially has a local monopoly on every product that does not begin with the words “Trader Joe’s,” “Trader José’s”, “Trader Giotto’s,” etc.
According to a 2009 study at UC Berkeley, competition between supermarkets not only decreases prices, but improves selection and availability as well.
I decided to put these findings to the test by visiting a supermarket outside of Westwood. At my hometown Vons, a basket of 10 items costs about $5 less than what I would normally pay at Ralphs for similar products. Not surprisingly, there was an Albertsons located only a few hundred feet away from this Vons.
The nearest grocery store that mirrors Ralphs is the Vons two and a half miles away on Santa Monica Boulevard. Shopping there is time-consuming for students, and impractical for those without a car.
This is why another supermarket that can compete directly with Ralphs, such as Vons, Albertsons or Stater Bros. is needed within walking distance of campus. The old Rite Aid or DSW could easily accommodate a new store, and these grocery chains should relish the opportunity to serve a largely immobile campus community.
Hai Phan, a fourth-year political science student, said that he would love to add another supermarket to Westwood, adding that he would likely shop at the new store more often than he currently does at Ralphs.
The fact is that not all supermarkets are created equal. They each try to cater to their community, so competition between chains nationally does not ensure fairness at the local level.
Ralphs is not judge, jury, and executioner when it comes to how we shop, but sometimes it sure feels like it.
E-mail Dushkes at adushkes@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.