View source for Alpha Beta

{{Short description|Supermarket chain}}
{{Other uses|Alphabeta (disambiguation)}}
{{One source
| date = November 2019
}}
{{Infobox company
| type = [[Subsidiary]]
| name = Alpha Beta
| logo = Alpha Beta logo 1990s.svg
| logo_caption = Logo used from 1990 until purchase by [[Ralphs]] in 1995
| fate = Merged with [[Ralphs]]
| successor = [[Ralphs]]
| foundation = {{start date and age|1915}}
| defunct = {{start date and age|1995}}
| locations = 
| industry = [[Retail]]
| products = supermarkets/food-drug stores
| revenue = 
| parent = [[American Stores]]
}}

'''Alpha Beta''' was a chain of [[supermarket]]s in the Southwestern United States. Stores under this brand existed between 1917 and 1995. Former Alpha Beta stores have all been purchased by other grocery chains and rebranded.

==History==
{{pic|Skaggs Alpha Beta - 1979x.svg|Logo for Skaggs Alpha Beta in the Southwest, 1979-1991}}
Before Alpha Beta was the name of a store, it was the name of a marketing concept used in grocery stores founded by Albert and Hugh Gerrard. It referred to organizing the groceries in the store in [[alphabetical order]].  The Gerrards applied this idea to their flagship grocery store, Triangle Grocerteria, in 1915.

Then in 1917, they opened the first Alpha Beta store in [[Pomona, California|Pomona]], in eastern [[Los Angeles County, California]]. The company also launched a series of coffee shops named Alphy's (a knockoff of the more formal Alpha Beta name) with dozens around southern California.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://repository.duke.edu/dc/outdooradvertising/AAA0010|title=Oranges, Alpha Beta, Sav-on Drugs, &#91;Coffee shop&#93;? (4 advertisements) / Resource of Outdoor Advertising Descriptions (ROAD) / Duke Digital Repository}}</ref> They were eventually sold; many became [[Denny's]].

The company was bought by [[American Stores]] in 1961. [[Skaggs Companies|Skaggs Drug Centers]] bought American Stores in 1979 and assumed the American Stores name. Combined food and drug stores in Alpha Beta territory were re-branded as Skaggs Alpha Beta. In 1984, American Stores bought [[The Jewel Companies, Inc.]], which had owned [[Osco Drug]] since 1961.

[[File:Alpha Beta supermarket in Santa Ana CA in 1974.jpg|thumb|left|An Alpha Beta store in [[Santa Ana, California]], in 1974]]
In 1984, all 34 Alpha Beta stores in [[Arizona]] were sold to [[ABCO Foods]], and the stores continued operating under the Alpha Beta name.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/05/business/american-stores.html American Stores], ''The New York Times'', September 5, 1984.</ref> In [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]], Alpha Beta-branded stores changed to ABCO-branded stores around 1989.

Some Alpha Beta stores carried more than the customary supermarket merchandise. For example, in 1980, a [[Cupertino, California]], Alpha Beta store sold Bohsei color TVs for under $200 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US|value=200|start_year=1980}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}), [[Atari]] 400 and 800 computers, and other goods.

In September 1991, Skaggs-Alpha Beta re-branded its 76 stores in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Arkansas as Jewel-Osco, in an attempt to unify some of its subsidiaries under one nationally recognized name. Months later, [[Albertsons, Inc.|Albertsons]] bought some of the Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas stores.

In 1994, [[Yucaipa Companies]], then owner of the Alpha Beta chain in southern California, purchased the [[Ralphs|Ralphs Grocery Company]].  All existing Alpha Beta stores in Southern California were rebranded as [[Ralphs]] or [[Food 4 Less]],<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/15/business/company-news-california-grocery-deal-yucaipa-to-buy-ralphs.html COMPANY NEWS; California Grocery Deal: Yucaipa to Buy Ralphs - New York Times<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and the Alpha Beta name ceased to be used by September 1995.

Alpha Beta stores in Northern California and [[San Diego County]] were taken over and rebranded by [[Lucky Stores]], which in turn was acquired by Albertsons, triggering another rebranding.  Many of the Northern California stores were subsequently sold in 2006 to [[Save Mart Supermarkets]], which had acquired the rights to use the Lucky brand and logo from Albertsons, so many of the stores eventually were rebranded as Lucky.

;Advertising
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, [[Alan Hamel]] was the television spokesman for the Alpha Beta grocery stores in California. Although the chain used various slogans such as "You Can't Lose" and "The Savings Don't Stop", every commercial featuring Hamel ended with him saying to the audience "tell a friend". [[Popeye]] was in the Alpha Beta grocery store commercial with [[Mickey Mouse]] in the 80s featuring the end of the Alpha Beta commercial with Mickey Mouse saying next to Popeye to the audience "tell a friend".{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}} [[Olive Oyl]]'s voiceover ended up saying "Go shopping with Popeye at Alpha Beta" and "Tell A Friend" at the end of the Alpha Beta commercial in the 80s.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}} [[Bugs Bunny]], [[Donald Duck]], and [[Hulk Hogan]] were in the commercial of Alpha Beta grocery store in the 90s featuring Hulk Hogan ended up saying "Either you're at Alpha Beta or you're not" next to Bugs Bunny.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}} In the 90s, [[Looney Tunes]] were in the commercial of Alpha Beta grocery store commercial and [[Daffy Duck]] ended up saying "Join Looney Tunes at Alpha Beta", "Either you're at Alpha Beta or you're not", and "Tell A Friend".{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.groceteria.com/store/regional-chains/alpha-beta/ Groceteria.com: History of Alpha Beta]
*[http://www.ralphs.com/ Ralphs website]

{{Clear}}
{{History of Retail in Southern California}}
{{Supermarkets of the United States}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Defunct supermarkets of the United States]]
[[Category:Companies based in Los Angeles County, California]]
[[Category:History of Pomona, California]]
[[Category:Retail companies established in 1917]]
[[Category:Retail companies disestablished in 1995]]
[[Category:1917 establishments in California]]
[[Category:1995 disestablishments in California]]
[[Category:Defunct companies based in Greater Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Private equity portfolio companies]]
[[Category:Skaggs family]]
[[Category:Supermarkets based in California]]