 | This articleusesbare URLs, which are uninformative and vulnerable tolink rot. Please consider converting them tofull citations to ensure the article remainsverifiable and maintains a consistent citation style.Several templates and tools are available to assist in formatting, such asreFill (documentation) andCitation bot (documentation).(September 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | December 15, 1936 (88 years ago) (1936-12-15) as Giant Food Shopping Center Inc. |
| Founders | Nehemiah Meir Cohen and Samuel Lehrman |
| Headquarters | 8301 Professional Place Suite 115 Landover, Maryland, U.S. |
Number of locations | 165 stores; 153 pharmacies |
Key people | Ira Kress,President |
| Products | Grocery, general merchandise, gasoline[1] |
| Services | Supermarket Pharmacy |
| Revenue |  $5.62 billion (2020)[2] |
Number of employees | 22,000 |
| Parent | Ahold Delhaize |
| Website | giantfood |
Giant Food of Maryland, LLC is an American regionalsupermarket chain with 166 stores located inDelaware,Maryland,Virginia, and theDistrict of Columbia.[3][4] It is a subsidiary ofAhold Delhaize, and headquartered in unincorporatedPrince George's County, Maryland, nearLandover.[5][6]
Giant Food is also known in business context asGiant-Landover, to avoid confusion withThe Giant Company, a Pennsylvania-based sister chain also owned by Ahold Delhaize and often referred to as Giant-Carlisle.
Giant was founded in 1936 by Nehemiah Meir "N.M." Cohen and Samuel Lehrman. Cohen was a rabbi who had emigrated from Jerusalem followingWorld War I and opened a kosher meat market inCarnegie, Pennsylvania. Lehrman was the financial backer who provided the funds for the company's creation. The first store was at Georgia Avenue NW and Park Road NW in the District of Columbia.[7]
In its early years, asAfrican Americans experiencedsegregation, Giant was criticized for not opening any locations in predominantlyAfrican-American neighborhoods.[8]
The chain experienced rapid growth followingWorld War II, growing from nine stores in 1946 to 17 in 1950.[9] Co-founder Samuel Lehrman died aged 70 while wintering inMiami Beach, Florida in January 1949.[10]
Between 1950 and 1952, Giant added five new stores, joining in the general expansion of the American economy. At this time, the shopping center concept was taking hold in America and Giant put a new store in the Congressional Plaza Shopping Center inRockville, Maryland.
In 1955 the chain opened its first store in Baltimore. By this time 48 percent of all its stores were located in shopping centers. In 1958, riding a new merchandising trend ofcombination supermarket/department stores, Giant opened its first Super Giant store and within a year had opened eight more. Also in 1958, the company opened its new headquarters and distribution center on a 40-acre site inLandover, Maryland.
In 1957 Giant Food Shopping Center Inc. became Giant Food Inc., and fiscal 1958 saw sales of more than $100 million. In 1959 the company, with 53 stores (including nine Super Giant stores) went public.
In 1959, the Cohens formed the Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation. The foundation primarily donated to local human services organizations in the DC area and to Jewish organizations, including theEdlavitch Jewish Community Center of Washington, D.C.[11] The Cohen Foundation refuses to fund programs that support theBoycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, but does fund programs that promote Arab-Jewish coexistence.[12]
During this time Giant computerized its inventory data, customer information, and payroll and bookkeeping operations. Customer service features added in the 1950s included self-opening doors, mechanized checkouts, and open display cases to make meats and frozen food directly accessible to the customer.
In the 1950s, Giant initiated a scholarship program to encourage students to pursue food management careers. Two of the first five recipients later became senior vice-presidents at Giant.[13]
In 1962, Giant opened its first combination food store and pharmacy located inGlen Burnie, Maryland, in the Southdale Shopping Center. Giant is noted as the first grocery chain in theUnited States to bring pharmacy services in-store.[citation needed]
Israel "Izzy" Cohen inherited the family mantle in 1964 and built the company into the 12th-largest food chain in the United States.[14]
Around the time theCivil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, Giant began opening new locations in predominantly Black neighborhoods, in response to early criticism over failing to do so since beginning operations.[8]
Giant Food also owned a clothing store called Pants Corral from 1972 until 1985, when it was sold toCarson Pirie Scott.[15] That company converted all of the Pants Corral stores toCounty Seat.[16]
Cohen died in 1995 at the age of 83. A holding company was formed because "none of the members of my family have had any experience or interest in operating Giant Food..." Three years after Cohen died, Giant was bought byRoyal Ahold, a Dutch conglomerate. Ahold promised few changes to the chain, but Ahold was soon plunged into turmoil after a financial scandal. Starting in 1994, they expanded into the Philadelphia/Delaware/South Jersey area, but under the nameSuper G, as to avoid confusion with future sister chain Giant of Carlisle. In 2005, the decision was made to phase out the Super G trade name and convert the Southern New Jersey stores to the Stop & Shop banner; however, these stores did not perform well and in 2007 were sold toShopRite franchises. The Delaware locations were to be remodeled and reopened using the Super Stop & Shop format, under the Super Giant banner.[citation needed]
In 2001, Giant had 184 stores.[17]
In 2004, Ahold merged Giant andStop & Shop and eliminated more than 600 positions at Giant's Landover headquarters,[7] creatingStop & Shop/Giant-Landover, which itself is a subsidiary ofNetherlands-based Royal Ahold. In 2006, Giant signed a five-year agreement withStarbucks Coffee to open Starbucks locations in several of Giant's stores.[18] The agreement was not renewed upon expiration in 2011 because many of the shopping centers that played host to Giant stores also were hosts of standalone Starbucks locations. Giant introduced a new logo on August 21, 2008, as part of a larger rebranding campaign;[19] the logo was shared with Stop & Shop until Stop & Shop updated their logo in 2018.
In September 2012, Giant sold its 760,000 sq ft (71,000 m2) distribution facility inJessup, Maryland. The company outsourced distribution toC&S Wholesale Grocers, relocating its operations to Pennsylvania.[20]
In 2019, Giant became an omnichannel grocery retailer through their launch of Giant Pickup, an onlineeCommerce channel to order groceries and pick them up at a local Giant location. In 2020, Giant followed up with Giant Delivers, a direct eCommerce model that allowed online shoppers at Giant's website to place orders to be delivered directly to their home or office. Giant also allows eCommerce orders to be placed throughInstacart.[citation needed]
On January 17, 2020, Giant announced a new line of private label wines named Artie. The wines includechardonnay,pinot grigio,cabernet sauvignon, andsauvignon blanc varietals, and are available in 57 stores in Virginia.[21]
Giant evolved its loyalty program with the launch of Giant Flexible Rewards in March 2020, encouraging a digital relationship with customers to earn loyalty points in return for gas and grocery savings, as well as redemptions for Giant products. The program was cited in the top 20 grocery reward programs in the country in 2020, viaNewsweek's America's Best Loyalty Programs.[22] The program repeated its placement in 2022 and 2023, one of only nine national programs to place all three years. Flexible Rewards surpassed the 1 million member mark in 2022.[23]
During theCOVID-19 pandemic, Giant pharmacies have served to vaccinate individuals in the region, and as of December 2021, surpassed one million vaccinations for the year, includingCOVID-19,seasonal flu, and other vaccines.[24]
8301 Professional Place, Suite 115, Landover, Maryland 20785
... Danzansky also announced Giant's entry into another general merchandise field with the opening this week of the first Pants Corral shop...
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
