Supermarket Ball Finally Rolling

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — A story on the LA Business Journal site tells us that construction work on the Downtown Ralphs is set to begin in February.

After a series of long delays and expensive cost overruns, CIM Group Inc. is ready to start construction on what will be downtown L.A.’s only supermarket.

John Given, the company’s senior vice president of development, said preparations at the site, dubbed The Market at 9th & Flower, could begin by the beginning of February.

“We’ve closed all the loops now,” Given said. “Everything is set to go.”

That’s good to hear. I’m still not sure how often I’ll use the store, though…

Last May I wrote about grocery delivery services. As I said then, once you get to the point where the store’s a mile away you’re running into logistics issues to get your purchases back to the apartment. For any trip larger than a couple bags you’re going to probably end up driving, and once you’re in the car what’s 1 mile vs. 5 miles?

In May I had given a shot to Von’s delivery service and gotten hung up with some snafu in the online ordering system. I didn’t ever get around to trying again. Two days ago, though, I saw the Von’s delivery van parked on my street. I’m definitely going to have to give the service another shot.