George Ralphs

George Albert Ralphs was born in Joplin, Missouri, in 1850. His family moved to California on a prairie schooner and a yoke of oxen when he was a boy. Once he was settled in San Bernardino, George Ralphs was trained as an expert bricklayer and even developed a reputation as the "Champion Bricklayer of California".

Ralphs also worked in Los Angeles. After losing an arm in an accident, he gave up bricklaying and found work as a clerk in a small grocery store. In 1873, he had saved enough money to purchase his own grocery at Sixth and Spring Streets. He opened his first store, Ralphs and Francis, in 1873, in the Spring Street Financial District of Los Angeles with S. A. Francis. From then on, Ralphs prospered, operating three of the largest stores in Los Angeles. In 1879, Ralphs bought Francis's share of the company for $2,000, took his brother Walter as a business partner, and renamed their business Ralphs Brothers. The company was incorporated in 1909 as Ralphs Grocery Company. Today, Ralphs supermarkets are owned by the Kroger Company, with locations in Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, Ventura, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties.

Ralphs married Wallula Von Keith on July 23, 1896. The couple had two children, Annabell and Albert George. Albert later became the vice president and manager of Ralphs Grocery Company.