Giant opens six stores in four states

Giant Food Stores announced last month that it opened six new stores in four states. Five of the stores were Shop n' Save stores that Giant converted to Martin's Food Markets, and one was a newly constructed Giant to replace a closed store nearby.

Giant acquired the Shop n' Save locations from Supervalu last November and received approval to close the deal from the FTC in February. The stores are in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia (2). The Giant location is in Warrington, PA.

Giant, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ahold Delhaize USA, now operates 178 supermarkets in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.

The company recently opened its first Giant Heirloom Market in Philadelphia, and has plans to open three more of the urban-format grocery stores in Philadelphia this year.

Giant opens new, improved store in Feasterville

Earlier this month Giant Food opened its new Feasterville, PA location. The new store is 66,000 square feet, approximately 25 percent larger than the store down the street that closed a day before the new Giant opened.

The new location includes an expanded fresh produce department with more organic selections, fresh-squeezed juices, in-store cut fruit, and a full salad bar. It also features a Beer & Wine Eatery with over 400 types of beer available. According to a news release, Giant is partnering with 13 local breweries from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, all of which are featured in the store.

In addition, the new Giant includes a full-service pharmacy with pharmacists available seven days a week, and a Starbucks-on-the-Go kiosk.

Giant currently has 171 stores in four states.

Giant to open e-commerce hub in Lancaster County, PA

Giant Food Stores recently announced a $22 million investment in Lancaster County, PA. The grocery retailer plans to launch a new e-commerce hub, remodel four stores, lower prices, and open a fuel station in Lititz.

According to a company press release, the e-commerce hub "will be designed with a unique format that offers curbside pickup orders, where online orders are delivered right up to customers' cars parked outside of the hub." Giant also says that the operation will bring 150 new jobs to the community.

The hub will be about 38,000 square feet, allowing Giant and Peapod to serve up to 40% more shoppers. It will be the fifth such facility that Giant has opened in Pennsylvania with Peapod.

Ahold and Delhaize approve company merger

Ahold and Delhaize shareholders approved the merger of the two companies last month, leaving approval from competition authorities in the United States and Europe as the final hurdle. Pending the necessary approvals, the deal is expected to close this summer.

In order to help facilitate the approvals, both chains are offering a combined 83 stores for sale, according to Food Trade News. The stores for sale are assumed to represent an overlap in markets where both stores exist.

According to published lists, there are four stores for sale in Pennsylvania (York, Waynesboro, and two in Chambersburg), all of which carry the Food Lion banner.

Ahold USA, headquartered in Carlisle, PA and Quincy, MA, includes Giant Food, Stop & Shop and Peapod, among others. According to the company's website, Ahold USA operates 770 supermarkets and 210 "pick-up points" in 14 states and the District of Columbia.

Delhaize America includes Food Lion and Hannaford, and operates 1,288 supermarkets in 15 states. The company's website reports that Delhaize America accounts for 66% of the overall company revenue.

Giant to close Upper Gwynedd, PA store

Giant Food announced earlier this week that it would close the Upper Gwynedd, PA location it purchased from Safeway (Genuardi's) in 2012. The associated pharmacy, located less than a mile away in North Wales, will close as well. Both closings are planned for January 24.

Giant purchased 16 area stores from Safeway in 2012. At 33,000 square feet, the Upper Gwynedd store is one of the smallest in the Giant chain. According to the company, all employees will be offered positions at nearby stores.

Whole Foods closing in on $1,000 in sales per square foot

Whole Foods announced earlier this month that its stores generated an average of $983 in annual sales per square foot (PSF) in 2013. According to statistics published by the Food Marketing Institute, the average sales PSF for supermarkets in the United States is $360 (based on a median total store size of 46,000 and median weekly sales per supermarket of $318,170).

In the Greater Philadelphia Market, the high-volume Giant Food and ShopRite stores are most likely generating north of $500 PSF, and perhaps even close to $800 PSF in some cases (a 55,000 SF store with $44 million in annual sales, for example).

For those immediately wondering about Wegmans, they certainly have incredible sales numbers, but with stores so large (132,000 SF in Collegeville), reaching Whole Foods-like PSF totals is nearly impossible. My guess for a store like Collegeville is about $600 PSF ($80 million in sales).