DotDotDash: Market-Makes-Community Edition

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — We take a look at the social event of the year and it's not the Temporary Beckham Contemporary or Best-of-Bash. We're talkin' Ralphs, and a final thought on Joel Bloom.

THE ANGELS SANG AS RALPHS OPENED and the honeymoon is still on with lofties and locals visiting several times over. This deputy to Sheriff blogdowntown took his gun-with-one-bullet and did a DASH public transportation test. It started at a small store that already built a community, Blooms General Store next to the A/DASH stop.

COVER ME, I'M GOING IN: 2:30pm may be the best time to lunch at Ralphs' massive service deli, with the choice of salad bar, sushi bar, sandwich bar––or later in the afternoon a bar-bar. A staffer said the goal is to beat the crunch knowing that there's about a ten-minute window for each luncher.

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ON THIS DAY: Senior VP for DCBID, Hal Bastian, and more importantly one of the hosts for the Dogma Run, was at his "second office"; The Coffee Bean inside Ralphs. NEXT! Belmont High counselor Mike Parks reports from the field that a Ralphs in South L.A. recently closed, and hopes Belmont students can be considered for part-time gigs. I'm Not Making This Up 9th District's Jan Perry snuck up behind us with blueberries on top of a full basket, but no press conference from DDD...let the Councilwoman shop.

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'I FEEL SO CIVILIZED' DEPARTMENT since this Ralphs has wine tasting. ..— More Civilized: Heard over the intercom "Main Lobster. Cooked while you wait." ..— TOO Civilized: At the deli, a young couple waiting for an order say they love the new market "but wish they delivered." "Where do you live?" asked the counter man. The couple reply, "Upstairs."

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SMALL TOWN: Using the DASH means you shop-n-schlepp after 6:30. Still, it's enough to make this massive grocery store match the hype that Downtown will be a community..— It opened on a weekend that could be considered an urban transition, from a village that grew around an Arts District General Store ..— A store, BTW, that's the same size as Downtown developers' new vision of square footage..— Talk about making downtown a little bit smaller, is 250 square feet really livable for the demographic they prefer?

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FINAL ADD FOR THE SMALL STORE: As noted before, former Bloom Buddy Tim Kazurinsky wrote from the Chicago service suggesting the Rabbi debriefed himself about Joel via the internet..—That may ( or may not mean) DotDotDash, blogdowntown, or VFaL were on the Rabbi's radar..—Then again it could. Sympathy flowers for the family, that were sent the same day of the memorial service, are still sitting next to the DASH A stop in front of Blooms. The card's signed "Yahoo! Sponsored Search Team."

As a community builder, Ralphs has a tough act to follow.

Top: Perry peeking in package. Bottom: A card from beyond.