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Leonardo Macias
Professor Jackie
English 114B
8 April 2014
The functionality of Ralphs and Vallarta
All grocery markets are different; those differences could be subtle or large, but there are
differences. I have conducted research and have witnessed these differences as well. Grocery
markets all function differently and each have their own particular type of customers who shop
there. Grocery stores are located in certain locations in order to attract these customers. In
general, customers tend to shop at stores that feel familiar to them in terms of culture and
aesthetics. Knowing this information, many grocery stores try to emulate the culture or try to
synchronize with the customer and try to make it more homely to attract their preferred
customers. Ralphs and Vallarta are examples of two different successful markets with different
customers, with very different ambient atmospheres. They operate on completely different terms.
A typical Ralphs supermarket is usually located in an Anglo upper middle class suburban
communities and Vallarta supermarket is usually located in areas where Hispanic lower-middle
class is more prevalent; both are supermarkets and sell food but they serve particular types of
communities and they are different in terms of which type of people shop there, prices, design,
aesthetics, interior, etc.
The customers at the Ralphs I conducted research in Calabasas on were different than the
customers at Vallarta in Canoga Park. The customers from this particular Ralphs had customers
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who owned cars such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, and Lexus, which were very elegant
vehicles and from a price standpoint they ranged from $50,000- 80,000 or more. Most of them
also looked new as if they recently bought it off the dealer lot. Furthermore, most of the
customers I evaluated dressed in elegant attire and a majority of them were of Anglo descent.
Also most of the customers at this Ralphs were older, ranging in age from 35-70 and much more
conservative in the way they acted and spoke. All of the customers that I have observed spoke
the English language. Once in a while I will see a customer with a kid but not very often, as most
were older type people. On the other hand, customers that shop at Vallarta that I observed were
mostly of Hispanic origin and were a bit younger that ranged from age 20-50. The majority
drove average cars, vans, SUVs, and trucks and some of them were a bit dusty. They also
dressed casually; basically they were of lower-middle class people. Lots of them had families
and had their children around when shopping at this store Vallarta. Vallarta though was located
in a more Hispanic rich area, and mostly likely they chose that spot because they knew that much
of their customers will lie in this area. Furthermore, Vallarta seems to have a more constant flow
of customer coming in. In addition, many of the shoppers that go to Vallarta are females. Also I
noticed that the employees that each store hired were different as well. Ralphs tended to hire
typically White Americans while Vallarta tended to hire mostly Hispanic Americans, probably
because the primary language spoken there was Spanish. On a further note, the specific cultures
that these markets reflect are correlated with the aesthetic element of each store.
Ralphs exterior and interior design were different from Vallarta overall aesthetics. Ralphs
outside design is far more conservative, in that they spend a lot of money making it look good
from the outside, especially the one I saw in Calabasas. The Ralphs that I visited used Greek and
Roman style design in the outside of their store. They had the classic Roman arches for
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doorways and exits; and had Greek columns as well, supporting the Roman arches. Inside the
store they use a lot of brown color, and lacquered wood for decoration conveying the sense of
opulence. Some parts of the floor at Ralphs had wooden floors which were also very nice. The
floors conveyed the essence of a house. Everything was very nice and organized. This type of
overall design that Ralphs had in their store relates very well to the high-class of the local
community they serve. Also Ralphs had very soothing American music playing gently in the
background. Vallarta has a much more tropical theme in design. It is first noticeable in the
parking lot because in that area they have a lot of genuine palm trees, reminding the customer
that the place they are about to enter is of a tropical nature. Those palm trees also look good as
well as shade the cars a bit. The outside of the Vallarta store looks like a Spanish villa, probably
to indicate Spanish tradition. In the inside of Vallarta there were a lot of artificial coconut trees
and the general color they used for inside the store was blue and white. I assume that the blue
represented either the sky or tropical water. While inspecting the place, I also detected Spanish
music playing in the background. The air vents in Vallarta were exposed and painted brown and
looked like bamboo almost and they also had tropical ceiling fans spinning and the blades of the
fan look like they had big leaves on them, which I thought was kind of nice. Overall, the Vallarta
atmosphere gives the sense of a beautiful tropical Island. By offering lovely aesthetics that their
customer find lovely, they provide a sanctuary for shopping. The types of people that these
domains attracted were different also in the type of food they buy.
Ralphs customer typically brought quicker, easier to prepare food while Vallarta
customer brought more fruits, vegetable, a whole lot of variety and also there was variation in the
quantity of food bought. It appears that these customers have different diets, perhaps due to
economic status. When I observed Ralphs customers they tended to buy mostly bread, chicken,
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meats, milk, and cereal. They did not buy too many items, just a couple of things and that was
mostly it. I saw only a few people in the vegetable and fruits area. In general, it seems that these
people ate a lot out at restaurants because of the few items they bought. To add, Ralphs also had
a membership card for their customers, while Vallarta did not. When I observed Vallarta
customers, they usually loaded the carts up. Usually I will see the children disturb the parents
about a certain product they wanted like candy or a certain cereal and the parents will typically
concur and put the item in the cart, but not always. There was definitely a difference in the
quantity of items the shoppers of Vallarta will buy compared to Ralphs. When I observed the
customers of Vallarta I noticed that many of them got vegetable and fruits, an indication that
they prefer to eat at home than go out to eat at restaurants compared to Ralphs customers. In
addition, the employees at Vallarta were much quicker than those employees who worked at
Ralphs and Vallarta had many more cash register open to keep up with demand. Vallarta
shoppers also tended to be more open minded in what they bought and mostly shopped for good
deals in the store.
Ralph prices and products they sold tended to vary from Vallarta. When I went inside
Ralphs they appeared to be more expensive. Most of the products they sold seemed to be
American made or American imported. Ralphs seemed to be patriotic and above the produce
aisles they will show pictures of the local farmers with John Deere tractors, that they got that
produce from, saying something like always fresh, every time. Vallarta had better overall
prices, they would sell apples 79 cents, cereal would be sold for an average price of $4.25,
breads would cost $3.25, while for the same items Ralphs would charge $1.00 for apples, cereal
would average about $5.00, breads would cost about $5.00. The biggest idiosyncrasy I saw that
Vallarta had was that they sold Hispanic bread that was exclusive to Vallarta markets only and
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they tended to sell a lot of that as a major product; those Hispanic breads came in many sizes,
shapes, colors, and some even were in the form of smiley faces. They looked quite delicious
overall and where very affordable. For one loaf looking bread that they were selling called a
bolillo, you could get about 3 for a buck. One more aspect about Vallarta that tended to vary
from Ralphs is that they served Hispanic food as well and deserts such as: horchata, or
delectable Latin style snow cones. They also sell Hispanic merchandise such as: piatas,
sombreros, and tortilla presses, which are symbolic of family in the Hispanic culture. To add,
while I was inspecting to see the origin of their produce, most of it was imported from Latin
countries. So a lot of the products they sell have Latin origins. Another aspect of Vallarta is that
there fruits and vegetables always seem a bit fresher, probably because they sell a lot and as a
result keep restocking with fresh fruits and vegetables. Compared to Vallarta, Ralphs tended to
sell products like lawn chairs and patio furniture; products that are part of American culture, and
relate to American values of such as relaxation. Furthermore, Vallarta had signs that were written
in Spanish and English in the inside, perhaps to appease the customers if they preferred one
language over the other, while Ralphs only had signs written in English. I think those customers
that shop at a store that doesnt connect with them culturally will feel more nervous and shop
faster with fewer items purchased than if they were to shop at a store that connected well with
them. For this reason, I believe that this is why stores have preferred customers, for making extra
profit. Culturally also, American shoppers are more accustomed to higher prices, while Hispanic
shoppers are more accustomed to great deals and good prices. The type of items each store sell
relate to the type of culture they are serving.
Ralphs related more to the American culture while Vallarta connected more to the
Hispanic culture. The fact that Ralphs has relatively higher prices means that the people that
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shop there dont mind it, due to their high incomes. Vallarta had their prices lower than Ralphs
because they know that their customers are pickier with the prices and were most likely to shop
where they can get a bargain deal, due to economic status. From the surface, it may appear that
these markets are opened to any shopper and inclusive, but they in reality target specific
customer through their advertising and through the locations of the store. Ralphs overall is
symbolic of American culture while Vallarta is symbolic of Hispanic culture. The two different
atmospheres that these two stores create help make the designated customer feel at home, and
thus when this occurs it will make the customer shop more because they are more relaxed. Quite
frankly, the real goal of these stores is to offer the best shopping experience for their designated
customer, that way they would continue coming back. The general food that these two markets
sell, though, is generally the same, but just presented and displayed in a different context.
Additionally, I also realized that grocery markets are significant to their communities because
they provide much of the food provisions; essentially they help keep their community members
have access to lots of different types of foods and great quantities of it, too, especially for those
who live in isolated communities such as those found in the mountains. And in some instances
grocery markets might be important, in that, they might be the only ones to sell a particular type
of food that people of one culture seem to value. For instance, some Hispanic foods that Vallarta
sell are very exclusive and may be difficult to find somewhere else and that particular food may
be something that a person of this culture uses to stay closely connected to his roots. In this view,
particular supermarkets might be crucial to some cultures. Additionally, I also found that the
quality of food and items were kind of similar; both Ralphs and Vallarta sell high quality food.
Moreover, I think the ultimate goal of these two stores is to make maximum profit, but both use
different resources to do so, such as customer type. Ralphs does not seem to get as many
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customers as Vallarta but their higher prices should compensate for that, while Vallarta makes
profit by having a bunch of customers buy things. Taken as a whole, its culture, that has a big
impact in these stores
In some ways these stores also spread hegemony or reinforce the culture they correspond
to, with their general ambient atmosphere. For example, close to Vallarta supermarket I saw
Mexican taco restaurants and next to Ralphs I saw only American businesses such as Rite Aid.
Through the use of the culture, values, and beliefs these stores relate to, they create a public
image to their surrounding community. All and all, the way these stores function such as design,
aesthetics, prices, products, etc, are there to serve and relate to the customers they prefer because
if they dont attract customers that relate to that culture, the stores are conveying, then they will
lose profit, and after all in this capitalist society its all about profit.