Alpha Beta

Ghost Corp Apparel — resurrecting iconic corporate ghosts.

Alpha Beta grew from Albert Gerrard’s 1915 “Alpha Beta System,” which arranged grocery items alphabetically at his Pomona store. In 1917, the first Alpha Beta market opened in Pomona, with additional early stores in Santa Ana. The concept was self-service before self-service was the default: find the beans, grab the beans, and spare the clerk a small expedition.

Alpha Beta Food Markets incorporated in Santa Ana in 1929. Its general offices moved from Vernon to La Habra in 1952, anchoring the chain in Orange County through its most recognizable decades. The company expanded aggressively, reaching 50 markets after acquiring 13 Raisin Markets in 1958, then entering San Diego County after its 1961 merger with Philadelphia-based American Stores Co.

The store signs, later featuring the smiling cowboy mascot Alphy, became familiar across Southern California and beyond. American Stores was acquired by Skaggs Cos. in 1979; American Stores then acquired Lucky Stores in 1988. Antitrust action led American Stores to sell most Southern California Alpha Beta stores to Food 4 Less in 1991.

Our Alpha Beta collection celebrates the alphabetized-aisle original: a suburban supermarket institution that made groceries feel a little more organized, a little more neighborly, and—at least in memory—considerably cooler than fluorescent lighting had any right to be. After Yucaipa acquired Ralphs in 1994, remaining Southern California Alpha Beta stores were converted to Ralphs or Food 4 Less; the Alpha Beta name disappeared in 1995.