Ralphs is a major supermarket chain in the Southern California area and the largest subsidiary of Cincinnati-based Kroger. It is the oldest such chain west of the Mississippi River. Ralphs also operates stores under the Food 4 Less and Foods Co. names in California.

Ralphs Grocery Company was founded in 1873 by George Albert Ralphs. The original store was located at Sixth and Spring Streets in Los Angeles, California. In the 20th century, Ralphs became a grocery pioneer, offering self-service markets with checkout stands in distributed locations. The company employed notable architects in designing its stores, and the former Ralphs Grocery Store building built in 1929 in Westwood Village has been photographed by Ansel Adams, declared a Historic Cultural Monument and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In the 1980s, it created a chain of hybrid supermarket/warehouse stores called The Giant, which failed, but the concept returned with the company's merger with the Food 4 Less discount chain. In 1994, Ralphs was acquired by the Yucaipa Companies for $1.5 billion. Yucaipa owned ABC Markets, Alpha Beta, Boys Markets, and Cala Foods. Soon, all ABC Markets, Alpha Betas and Boys Markets were rebranded as Ralphs. At the same time, Food 4 Less was merged with Ralphs. In 1997, Yucaipa sold the Ralphs Grocery Company to Fred Meyer, Inc., owner of several chains in the west. Soon, Ralphs Marketplace stores started opening; these stores are based on the Fred Meyer model but without apparel. In October 1998, the parent company, Fred Meyer, merged with The Kroger Company of Cincinnati, Ohio.

Milton Bradley (November 8, 1836 – May 30, 1911), an American game pioneer, was credited by many with launching the board game industry in North America with Milton Bradley Company.

A native of Vienna, Maine, Bradley grew up in a working-class household in Lowell, Massachusetts. After completing high school he found work as a draftsman before enrolling at the Lawrence Scientific School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1856, he secured employment at the Watson Company in Springfield, Massachusetts. After the company was shuttered during the recession of 1858, he entered business for himself as a mechanical draftsman and patent agent. Later, Bradley pursued lithography and in 1860, he set up the first color lithography shop in Springfield, Massachusetts. Eventually, Bradley moved forward with an idea he had for a board game which he called The Checkered Game of Life, an early version of what later became The Game of Life.

In 2004, he was posthumously inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame along with George Ditomassi of Milton Bradley Company. Through the 20th century the company he founded in 1860, Milton Bradley Company dominated the production of American games, with titles like Candyland, Operation, and Battleship. The company is now a subsidiary of Pawtucket, Rhode Island-based Hasbro.

Ralph Tresvant ( /trəˈvɑːnt/; born Ralph Edward Tresvant, Jr. on May 16, 1968) is an American tenor singer, best known as one of the lead singers in New Edition.

Tresvant sang lead on many of the New Edition lead singles including "Candy Girl", "Cool It Now" and "If It Isn't Love". When New Edition was formed as the group, Tresvant was chosen as the leading frontman, which caused conflict with group member Bobby Brown (who was since voted out of the group in the early years).

Tresvant left New Edition in 1989, shortly before the rest of the group disbanded by the time it was a quartet. Despite the success of groupmates Bobby Brown, Bell Biv DeVoe, and Johnny Gill, Tresvant was cautious about his own solo career. Signing to MCA Records, Tresvant let his apprehension be known in several interviews.

Nevertheless, well-known producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis were confident in his abilities after having worked with him on the album Heartbreak. They wrote the song "Sensitivity" for him which hit #1 on the R&B charts, #4 on the Hot 100 and it went gold. His self-titled album released shortly after in 1990 and went platinum as well, topping the R&B charts. The album scored two more hits with "Stone Cold Gentleman" reaching #3 on the R&B charts and "Do What I Gotta Do" which reached #2.

Michael Geoffrey "Mick" Ralphs (born 31 March 1944) is an English guitarist and songwriter, who was a founding member of rock bands Mott the Hoople and Bad Company.

Ralphs played with a blues-rock group called the Buddies (who released a single in 1964) in his teens.

Then a guitarist with the Doc Thomas Group between 1966 and 1968, Ralphs joined Mott the Hoople the following year. In 1973, dissatisfied with Ian Hunter's growing domination, Ralphs left Mott the Hoople to team up with former Free vocalist Paul Rodgers to form Bad Company. This band ultimately had greater commercial success than Mott The Hoople. Ralphs' composition "Can't Get Enough", which Hunter was unable to record because of the vocal register in which it was written, became an immediate hit and pushed the group's 1974 debut album to number one in the U.S. Ralphs continued to record and tour with Bad Company until they folded in 1982, when Rodgers announced he was leaving the band.

In 1984, he toured with Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour on Gilmour's About Face tour. Ralph's 1985 solo album, Take This, featured bassist Micky Feat and his fellow Bad Company member, drummer Simon Kirke. Ralphs only managed four gigs in support of the album, but his live band consisted of guitarist Dave Colwell (later to join Ralphs in a reformed Bad Company), Uriah Heep drummer Chris Slade and Ozzy Osbourne keyboard player Lindsay Bridgewater. Prior to rejuvenating Bad Company Ralphs joined Cold Turkey, an act that lasted just one gig.

Jeremy Hotz (born May 31, 1963 in Cape Town, South Africa) is a Canadian actor and stand-up comedian. He has appeared on Comedy Central Presents, the Just For Laughs comedy festival, The Late Show with David Letterman, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. He has also worked as a staff writer for Paramount's The Jon Stewart Show and has appeared in various American and Canadian motion pictures including: My Favorite Martian, Speed 2: Cruise Control, and Married Life.

Hotz has also finished shooting the pilot "My Life and a Movie" for Muse Entertainment and Adjacent 2 Productions and is developing another comedy series designed for Canadian network release. This project is currently untitled.

He currently resides in Tarzana, California. He also appears on Comedy Central in Just for Laughs.

Hotz draws in audiences with his "confused yet very shrewd ways" and often improvisational comic style. He presents himself as someone who is challenged by everyday experiences, but able to draw the humour out of simple mishaps. He often begins a comedy piece with a statement of how miserable or upsetting a place or thing is: "I moved to LA, what a miserable place that is...". He is recognizable by his characteristic of using his right hand to stifle his own laughter whenever he delivers a punch line, standing in an odd posture or complaining about everyday situations. Hotz also uses the audience members or city as a theme and often associates them with improvised jokes.