Sign of the Times: Empty Shelves at Vons

The shelves remain bare at our local Vons grocery store, but there's still some milk. Eggs and toilet paper, forget about it.

Ralphs Ditches 'Van de Kamp's' Name, Rebrands Its Store-Brand Bread Under 'Kroger'

Van de Kamp's Holland Dutch Bakeries was once a staple of Southern California, particularly thanks to the bakery/restaurant chain's trademark blue windmills. Founded in 1915, Van de Kamp's evolved into a chain of more than 300 bakeries and restaurants up and down the west coast. A grand headquarters was even built in Glassell Park. The building still stands (today it's the LA City College's Innovation Center, and also home to a charter school) — but Van de Kamp's went out of business in 1990.

The name has lived on via local grocer Ralphs, which holds the license to sell its in-house bakery items under the Van de Kamp's name. But that may now be changing.

Eagle-eyed Friend of Franklin Avenue Jim Ellwanger posted on his Twitter feed that it looks like Ralphs is ditching the Van de Kamp's brand in favor of its parent company, Kroger. That would bring items like bread, buns, and pastries, in line with its other Kroger-branded in-house store items. Here's what he found:

"Van de Kamp's bread has a new look. Same Great Taste! Now... KROGER." I guess chalk it up to another end of an era.

Pumpkin Spice Mania Returns, As We Head Into Fall

Remember when I asked last year if the Pumpkin craze had gone too far?

I'm inclined to say no, but I'm a sucker for pumpkin flavors -- and every year, more mainstream products get into the act. This year, pumpkin is invading the cereal aisle. Above, pumpkin flavors of Mini Frosted Wheats, Life and Special K cereals. (All found at Target). I haven't been to Trader Joe's yet this week, but I assume the aisles are starting to look a lot like this, from last year:



Fall is here!

First Look: Silver Lake's New 365 by Whole Foods Market

Trader Joe's, don't worry just yet. "365," the new supermarket concept from Whole Foods Market, recently opened in Silver Lake to much fanfare -- but also much confusion.  We finally visited for the first time, on Sunday, and although the experience was pleasant, I'm left wondering what the strategy is.



Again, that's not to say it's not a pleasant shopping experience. But as Devon Maloney wrote in the Los Angeles Times, it's hard not to keep thinking about how 365 "is the national grocery chain’s attempt to reach a younger, less financially sound generation by selling them food that’s slightly less expensive than what they might find at the original Whole Foods. With 365, Whole Foods hopes to capitalize on the student-loan-saddled bourgeoisie (you know, the people who can swing some organic produce but aren’t champing at the bit for a $6 asparagus water) while still keeping the rabble clear of its highest-quality aisles."



Adds Maloney: "But 365 is not just about appealing to millennials through our wallets — it’s about capturing our hearts, too, by revolutionizing the food-buying experience...somehow? Anyway, this flashy gimmick certainly isn’t here to profit from an already-gentrified, upwardly mobile yuppie community and help drive up rent prices for low-income immigrant families who have been here for decades!"



Can't I just pick it up? Do I really need to order it on this iPad too?



Long lines, during these early days of 365's existence.



OK, nice wine offerings.



And a mini version of Whole Foods' Allegro coffee.



Ha, jumble "Lake" and it becomes "Kale," get it?



Whoa. I've been disappointed with Trader Joe's for discontinuing my beloved Jalapeno cheese puffs. Good to see Barbara's (which I assume also produced TJ's version) still makes them. OK. 365, you're beginning to win me over, much like Maloney. Maria felt a bit like we were cheating on Trader Joe's; I figure it can't hurt to keep an open grocery store relationship.

Fresh & Easy's Sad Farewell Letter

Sad sight tonight at the Glassell Park location of Fresh & Easy. With discounts between 10% and 30%, items are already flying off shelves. The employee I talked to said the store will probably be open for a week or two more, but the good stuff is going away now.

Back in 2007, we wrote about the arrival of Fresh & Easy markets. We were particularly excited about the opening of a nearby location in Glassell Park:

Wasn't too impressed with the food sample booth -- pieces of lettuce with blue cheese dressing (really? On day one, that's your only sample in the entire store? Shouldn't F&E be offering samples of just about everything?) Like TJ's, the produce selection is relatively small (actually, if possible, it's smaller than Trader Joe's). But in other ways -- the sheer variety of both F&E brand and national brand ice creams, for example -- F&E offers much more than TJs.

I was impressed, for the most part, by the prices. And let's face it, another grocery option so close by is a good thing -- and a welcome addition to the working-class Glassell Park neighborhood.

The store is big, but not too big, and simply designed. (The wall that separates F&E from whatever will move in next door is empty and stark.) Majority of the check outs are do-it-youself, although on opening day plenty of F&E employees were on hand to help ring people up.

Ultimately, I think the real draw for F&E will indeed be its ready-to-cook entrees. For dinner, I picked up a Green Curry Thai Chicken rice bowl for $3.99. Good price, good flavor (although I'm still tasting the garlic) -- and there's plenty more to try.

Fresh & Easy could never crack the code with consumers, who I think were confused by the fact that it was a hybrid of Trader Joe's and Ralphs. And maybe the self checkout thing really turned people off. It was impersonal and cold -- the direct opposite of TJ's friendly staff.

I liked having F&E as an option, however, and they still carried some decent ready-to-cook items. But alas, it's all over. A message from the company:

Over the last two years, we have been working hard to build a new Fresh & Easy. We thank you for shopping with us and bringing our products into your home.

As you may have heard, all our stores will be closing over the coming weeks. You may still convert any points you have over 500 and redeem your rewards. However, we will no longer be awarding Friends points on purchases made after 12:00:00am Pacific time on Friday October 23, 2015. Please see our updated Terms and Conditions.

We encourage you to come in and get some of your fresh&easy favorites for the last time.

Thank you for being a loyal friend.

The fresh&easy Team

See our full Fresh & Easy coverage from the past decade here.

Fresh and Easy Finds Its Inner Brit

The discount grocer Fresh & Easy is owned by Britain's Tesco chain, so it makes sense that they would have imported some items from their native land. This is welcome news: When F&E first opened, we bemoaned the lack of British products -- in our eyes, that was part of the original draw of seeing Tesco come to the U.S.

Of course, more imported products (F&E also carries more Mexican, Asian and Indian products as well) is far from the answer to Fresh & Easy's woes. The grocer appears to still be struggling to figure out just what it is, and who it serves. We occasionally shop there, but more as a supplement to our Trader Joe's runs than as a primary market. Once there, I appreciate their mix of in-house and major label items. Its pre-packaged dinner fare is also decent, and something that TJ's doesn't offer. But ultimately there's something missing.

FRANKLIN AVENUE IN BANFF: Canadian Food Finds

One final post from my trip to Banff, Canada, for the Banff World Media Festival. As I've mentioned in the past, one of my favorite things to do in a foreign country is visiting the grocery store. Here's one Canadian grocery store find: "Muffets," as in "Little Miss"?


Another Canadian grocery store find: Not Macaroni & Cheese, but rather, "Kraft Dinner."


Among the restaurants in Banff, there's the Grizzly House -- "Buffalo & Caribou Served"


Back home, organizing my candy haul from Canada -- Nestle Smarties, Malteasers, Aero Dark, Kit-Kat Dark, Coffee Crisp, Caramilk.

In Appreciation of the Trader Joes Shopping Experience

I couldn't have put it better. Richard Rushfield accurately describes the joy of shopping at Trader Joe's. He calls it the "Trader Joe's Miracle":

The remarkable thing about it wasn’t the overall price tag. It wasn’t even the fact that when I looked at the receipt there wasn’t single item that had cost more than four dollars. The miracle was that I had achieved this without even trying; that I hadn’t even really been paying attention to the prices and still walked away unscathed. When I awoke from the haze which comes over me when I enter a supermarket, I was stunned to discover this.

Why has this become so rare? The idea of going into a store that will give you decent quality goods for reasonable prices is practically unheard of outside of Trader Joes. Every other nook and cranny of our culture has been occupied people and companies lying in wait to reach their hand into your wallet and ring every last cent out of you the moment you let your guard down just a tiny bit..

To have one last refuge in the world where you can go shop and they are not trying to rob you blind with every decision really is nothing short of a miracle these days.

Hey, we're true Trader Joe's believers here at Franklin Avenue HQ! Meanwhile, read this chronicle of Trader Joe's successful strategy from this month's Los Angeles magazine.

Find of the Day: 'Good Good Eat'

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As spotted at a Koreatown grocery store: "Everyone says good good eat." Yes, they do. (By the way, I was intrigued by the idea of Ramen noodles with black pepper, hence my purchase.)

Silver Lake Trader Joe's Brings Back Its Local Color

Good news for Trader Joe's Silver Lake shoppers like Jessica Ritz, who bemoaned the loss of some local flavor after the store expanded: Some of it is coming back.

That includes the Silver Lake TJ's use of local street names to designate its checkout registers. As part of the store's recent expansion into the old Video Hut space, the checkouts were suddenly given numbers in place of streets like Hyperion, Rowena and (of course), Franklin.

Jessica wrote at the time:

There might be 14 check-out aisles, plenty of wandering room, and expanded shelf space. But gone are the murals showing local landmarks: Dodger Stadium, Travel Town, the Observatory. In its place are other trying to be "funky" eclectic images that don't have the neighborhood feel of the former decor. For all its shortcomings, I've always preferred this pre-mega-chain, old school-feeling TJs, for better or for worse.

The Eastsider L.A. wrote about it as well.

Some of the murals are still there -- such as Travel Town, which is painted on an office door. But new drawings of L.A. sights like the zoo and downtown skyline now exist above the cashiers.

Retro Friday: Return of Lucky Supermarkets Edition

We wrote back in 2006 that the retired Lucky supermarket brand was making a comeback up in Northern California. Now, the first Lucky in SoCal has been spotted: According to the Daily News, the Lucky name plate has been slapped on a supermarket in Van Nuys.

You all remember those old Lucky ads featuring then-spokeswoman Stephanie Edwards. Here's one from 1988.

Last Chance for Half-Off Groceries

Today's the last day to raid the West Hollywood Pavilion's supermarket for half-off groceries, KTLA reports.

I gotta imagine most of the good stuff is already gone. But hey, you might wanna check. Pavilions is building a new store on the property, which wont open until next year.