| Giant Food |
Article Index for Giant |
Website Links For Giant |
Information AboutGiant Food |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT GIANT FOOD | |
| supermarkets of the united states | |
|
.]] GIANT Food is the name of two separate but related Supermarket chains in the United States , and a third unrelated chain. GIANT FOOD OF CARLISLE, PENNSYLVANIA GIANT Food Stores was founded in 1923, when David Javitch opened a small meat market in Carlisle, Pennsylvania . The Carlisle Meat Market, as it was known, began as a humble two-man butcher shop. David Javitch, otherwise known as "D.J.", built his business on the premise of "the best product at the fairest price." He spent most of his hours in the store, and his children were raised there. His store prospered during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1936, Javitch decided to take a chance on a new business opportunity. He purchased a store in Lewistown, Pennsylvania , which he named the GIANT Shopping Food Center. It was a big change from the original Carlisle Meat Market in that it was a total grocery store. It was very modern and offered customers the opportunity to purchase their dry goods and perishables under one roof; a new concept at that time. The store was a great success, and soon a decision was made to expand the Carlisle store from a basic meat market into a full-fledged grocery store. Prior to purchasing the Lewistown store, he purchased a store in Hagerstown, Maryland that opened and closed within the same month. Though it was a short-lived and costly venture, it provided a valuable learning experience to him. In addition, his main store in Carlisle was destroyed by fire, and the Lewistown store was completely flooded on two separate occasions. After each setback, Javitch started over, adding more features for his customers. The Carlisle store was very modern for its time, with features like a parking lot, baggers, and outside lighting for the safety of employees and customers. The stores continued to flourish in the 1950s as some serious decisions about the business were made. Shopping malls became a new American experience with the population moving outside of the cities and into the suburbs, and Javitch took advantage of the strip malls dotting the landscape. As a result, the company embarked on a plan of steady growth, opening new stores in suburban areas. In 1968, the ninth store opened in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with Lee Javitch, David's son, serving as President of GIANT Food Stores. In 1970, a strategic decision was made to compete with larger regional supermarket chains. The company's growth accelerated with the purchase of the Martin's chain (Though these stores retain the Martin's name to this day) in Hagerstown, Maryland . It was now becoming more difficult for the Javitch family to personally supervise the operation of the expanding company. In 1972, Nick Riso joined the company as Vice President of Sales and Operations. Nick assisted the Javitch family in bringing about their desired growth plan. A new merchandising effort began with the introduction of "Everyday Low Prices." This concept would begin a span of 29 consecutive years of record sales and earnings. In 1974, David Javitch died, and Lee established the David Javitch Memorial Scholarship Fund to benefit children of GIANT /Martin's employees. As the 1970s closed, 24 stores were in operation. Nick Riso was appointed President, and Lee Javitch assumed the position of Chairman. As the 80s approached, the company had grown to a workforce of 3,400. In 1981, the Javitch family made a key decision to perpetuate the growth and financial stability of the company as GIANT entered into an agreement with Royal Ahold Corporation, a food retailing business based in Zaandam, the Netherlands. Ahold's roots date back to 1887, with the Albert Heijn grocery chain in Holland serving as their anchor business. They are now a multi-faceted international company involved in the manufacturing and retailing of food and other consumer goods across the world. At the time of agreement, GIANT was operating 29 supermarkets. Throughout the 80s, GIANT continued to grow. In 1988, Allan Noddle assumed the position of President of GIANT Food Stores, as the 50th GIANT store opened. Noddle served as a spokesperson in GIANT's radio and television advertising campaigns. The late 80s through the mid 90s saw a complete modernization of GIANT and Martin's stores as remodels, expansions, and interior upgrades were completed in virtually every store within the chain. In addition, many new customer conveniences were added including in-store banks, pharmacies, Chinese kitchens, coffee shops, photo processing, and dry cleaning services. By the end of 1996, GIANT had grown to 75 stores. 1997 saw the second major change in the company's history as GIANT merged with Edwards Super Food Stores, another Ahold-owned company. Upon completion of the merger, GIANT was operating two divisions, with 23,000 employees in six states including Maryland , New Jersey , New York , Pennsylvania , Virginia , and West Virginia . Additionally, Tony Schiano became President and Chief Executive Officer of GIANT. As 2000 approached, GIANT Food Stores underwent many technological changes. In addition, the new 2000 prototype store opened and additional new stores opened with shopping conveniences for customers including gas stations, full-service floral departments, smoothie and juice bars, expanded deli and bakery departments, and organic produce. The new millennium brought about additional change within the organization, as Edwards transitioned to another Ahold-owned company, Stop & Shop. The Edwards stores throughout New Jersey and New York were remodeled and reopened under the Stop & Shop banner. With the major change, GIANT concentrated on its plans to expand and opened stores in new market areas such as Altoona, Pennsylvania . In 2001, GIANT formed an alliance with another Ahold company, Tops Friendly Markets in Buffalo, New York . The new partnership, called Shared Services, was designed to allow both Companies to continue to operate individually as separate and distinct businesses while partnering to support corporate functions. U-Scan Self Checkout registers were implemented company-wide, and a new marketing campaign, "Quality. Selection. Savings. Everyday" was introduced. Major organizational change occurred in January 2003. Ultimately, Shared Services evolved to the extent that currently, Tops is now fully integrated into the GIANT organization. The new structure results in many organizational changes that are consistent with Ahold's strategy of operating local food stores that are focused on meeting the needs of the customer. Through this integration, GIANT and Tops will share each company's own strengths while maintaining local brands, resulting in increased long-term competitiveness and financial performance. Recently, in 2005, GIANT opened the doors on a new "Super GIANT" in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania , in part due to competition from Wegmans supermarkets moving into the area. The new GIANT offers more selections overall, particularly in the Deli department, which is what Wegmans is known for. GIANT Food Stores sponsors the GIANT Center arena in Hershey, Pennsylvania as well as the Skyview at Hersheypark . GIANT FOOD OF LANDOVER, MARYLAND Although the companies shared financiers, GIANT Food Stores of Pennsylvania was independent of GIANT Food Inc. of Landover, Maryland , which was founded in 1936 by N.M. Cohen and Samuel Lehrman in Washington, D.C. . It expanded to Virginia , Maryland , Delaware , and New Jersey . GIANT Food Inc. was the first to use computer-assisted checkout systemwide. GIANT Food Inc. operated stores in Pennsylvania under the Super G name until its 1998 buyout by Dutch supermarket conglomerate Ahold from the founding Cohen family. It presently operates over 150 supermarkets. In the 1970s , GIANT experimented with Department Store s under the GIANT name and apparel stores, including the Pants Corral . GIANT is a long-time sponsor of the Washington- and Baltimore -area high-school Quizbowl game '' It's Academic ''. Since 1977 , Odonna Mathews has been well-known to Washington- and Baltimore-area GIANT Food shoppers as consumer adviser. Mathews, who appeared in countless circulars and TV and newspaper ads, announced her retirement in September 2005 , effective at the end of the month. Andrea Astrachan succeeds Mathews in the role. GIANT-STOP & SHOP In December 2004, Royal Ahold integrated Stop & Shop Supermarkets and GIANT Food LLC of Landover into a single operation to save money and it has become one of the biggest supermarket chains in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The new combined unit has more than 540 stores in various states and 80,000 part time and full time associates. See GIANT-Stop & Shop for more details. GIANT FOOD MARKETS OF BROOME COUNTY, NEW YORK Giant Food Markets of Broome County, New York is a separate chain in business since 1933 . It was founded by Metrie and George Akel in Binghamton, New York and was the first self-service supermarket in New York . SEE ALSO
EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|