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 expands Peapod service in PA

Giant announced last week that Peapod's shopping and delivery services have become available to customers in a dozen new Pennsylvania zip codes, including stores in Reading, Birdsboro and Temple. The company says that 109 of the 170 stores under the Giant and Martin's banners are now within the geography of Peapod's delivery range.

Through the Peapod website or mobile app, customers can have groceries delivered as soon as the next day after the order has been placed. First-time customers get $20 off their first order and 60 days free delivery.

Giant, Martin's and Peapod are subsidiaries of Ahold Delhaize USA.

Ahold-Delhaize trading as one entity, selling off stores to avoid antitrust concerns

Ahold-Delhaize began trading as a combined entity on Monday, July 25, a few days after the Federal Trade Commission issued a consent order allowing for the completion of the merger, subject to the sale of 81 stores due to antitrust concerns.

According to the company, agreements have been made to sell all 81 stores, plus an additional five stores that were included as part of negotiations with buyers in order to reach a package deal. Buyers include Weis Markets (38 Food Lion stores in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia), Supervalu (22 Food Lion stores in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia), and Publix (10 Martin's stores in Richmond, Virginia), among others.

The FTC said the agreement is subject to public comment until August 22, after which the commission will decide whether to make the proposed consent order final.

Giant and Food Lion parent companies in merger talks

Ahold and Delhaize confirmed last month that they are in the early stages of merger talks, and analysts believe a deal could be struck this year. Ahold is the parent company for Ahold USA, which includes Giant Food, Martin's, Stop & Shop, and Peapod. The Delhaize Group includes Delhaize America, which consists of Food Lion and Hannaford. Both companies are based in Europe.

Analysts said that both companies combined produced sales of $60.5 billion last year, of which about 61% came from the U.S.

The companies discussed a merger in 2006, but an agreement was not reached.

Ahold denies plan to reduce number of banner names in U.S.

Earlier this month a spokesperson for Ahold USA said rumors about reducing the number of banner names in the U.S. was false. A Dutch newspaper had said that Ahold wanted a greater presence and therefore might prefer one common U.S. banner.

Ahold currently operates under the Giant, Martin's and Stop and Shop names, as well as the Peapod online grocery service.

Perhaps they should combine the names. How does "Stop Martin's Giant Peapod" sound?

Ahold USA reports sales increase

As compared to the same time period a year ago, U.S. sales at European-based Ahold improved 4.3% in the fourth quarter to $6.1 billion, and identical-store sales improved by 1.4%. Ahold USA includes Giant, Stop & Shop, Martin's Food Markets and Peapod.

For the fiscal year, U.S. sales increased 3.1% to $25.8 billion. Worldwide, Ahold sales totaled $42.9 billion.

The company said it would keep its "eyes and ears open" about potential acquisitions but didn't say anything about Harris Teeter Supermarkets, which has been rumored to be on the sales block. Ahold and Publix are both rumored to be interested in Harris Teeter.

Depending on who you believe, Acme or ShopRite tops the Philly market

Supermarket News published an article yesterday that provides Supervalu's up-to-date grocery sales market share positions in 10 markets relative to a year ago. According to their numbers, Acme's sales and market share are falling in the Philadelphia region "like peppers on an overstuffed cheesesteak." The numbers are based on a study by Metro Market Studies, which defines the Philly market as including 11 counties; 1 each in Maryland and Delaware, 4 in New Jersey and 5 in Pennsylvania.

Despite their decline in sales and market share, Metro Market Studies says Acme is still the market leader, with a 16.8% share, down 0.8% from a year ago. Giant/Martin's is second, with a 12.3% share, up 1.4% from 2010. Although Wegmans and ShopRite don't show up in the article's market share chart, the story acknowledged that these strong operators are hurting Acme, just as Target and Bottom Dollar are.

But truly defining market leaders comes down to defining the markets themselves. Nearly one year ago Food Trade News published its annual market study, and Publisher Jeff Metzger reported that ShopRite surpassed Acme as the leading supermarket retailer in the 15-county Delaware Valley market, although Acme maintained a small lead in Greater Philadelphia's 8-county area. This market study holds more weight in my book, as their market definitions and overall analysis seem to be stronger. The 2011 Food Trade News market study should come out in a couple months.

Here's the Supermarket News story:
Not So Super | An analysis of 10 key Supervalu retail markets illustrates the company's struggles