More Ralphs Will Go By the Wayside

Ralphs grocery store at Triangle Square is not the only Ralphs closing in Orange County.

As part of the Ralphs merger with Hughes Family Markets last year, the state attorney general’s office required that 19 Southern California Ralphs and Hughes stores be closed so that no one company would have a monopoly in any given community, said Terry O’Neil, Ralphs Grocery Co.’s spokesman.

As a result, the Ralphs in El Toro will change hands Jan. 17. The store has been sold to U&R; Inc., another supermarket operator, said Ralphs spokesman Terry O’Neil. He said Ralphs in Fountain Valley also will be sold.

A Ralphs in Laguna Niguel and a Hughes in Mission Viejo were bought by Vons and changed hands in December, he said.

Ralphs has approximately 55 stores in Orange County.