Giant-Carlisle

[Pikapower]

The one at Grant Ave in Philadelphia now has a beer & wine section.
I think their store brand is mostly still good, but I thought it was cool when they had their own version of pepsi and coke.



When they switched to the fruit bowl logo so they didn't have to print different logo's for giant, stop & shop and such, the store brand cola just went to the red one, so Spin Cola was no more.

Tops used have Rally and Spin colas for a short time until Ahold sold Tops.

[giantsfan2016]

Leaving out the discount chains Aldi and Save-a-Lot and non-traditional grocery stores such as Trader Joes, Whole Foods. Walmart, Target, etc where do the players in the greater Philly rank in price? Granted sale items can sometime skew the prices.

Here in Connecticut. (From Most Expensive to least Expensive)

BIG Y
Stop & Shop
Price Chopper/Market 32
ShopRite

[store215]

Leaving out the discount chains Aldi and Save-a-Lot and non-traditional grocery stores such as Trader Joes, Whole Foods. Walmart, Target, etc where do the players in the greater Philly rank in price? Granted sale items can sometime skew the prices.

Here in Connecticut. (From Most Expensive to least Expensive)

BIG Y
Stop & Shop
Price Chopper/Market 32
ShopRite

IMO, by price, the ranking of traditional grocers goes in this order, with cheapest being first:
-Wegmans (comparing general everyday grocery items like milk, eggs, regular chicken breasts, etc.) and store brand to store brand. Many people are surprised by this, but if you stay away from the 'fancy' items, their prices even rival Walmart/Aldi)
-Giant
-Redner's (although not really a huge presence in the area, and a lot of the times they are a bit cheaper than Giant).
-ShopRite/The Fresh Grocer: also debatable and prices tend to vary by location since they are independently owned. Unbeatable sale/loss leader prices, but every day pricing is just average to higher than the above. If shopping in the city itself, save for one Giant store on the outskirts, ShopRite would be the cheapest)
-Acme

[FitchMike26]

I'm inclined to agree. A lot of the items I used to get at Giant, I now get at Wegmans. A large majority of these items are store branded items, like:

store brand eggs (3 dozen for $2.49 / 83 cents a dozen)
store brand laundry soap ($1.99 for 50 oz)
store brand paper products
store brand health & beauty items
etc

I am fortunate that I live 5 minutes from a Wegmans, 2 Giants, 2 Walmarts, a Target, and an ACME (which I almost never go to). ShopRite & Redner's are within a 10-15 minute car ride.

Additionally, there are also some name branded items that Giant just stopped carrying, period. I get these items at places like Walmart, Target, Render's, and ShopRite.

Also, my favorite brand of TV dinner (Marie Callender's) used to be $2.49, every day, at Giant last year. They now want almost $4 for this item on an everyday price, which occasionally putting it on sale for $2.50 now.

When your SALE price today is higher than the EVERYDAY price you had 6 months ago, you're doing something wrong.

[giantsfan2016]

You definitely have to know your prices. Now at one area ShopRite near me their 33 ounce rotisserie chickens  have been $4.99 for quite a while. This week's ad shows ShopRite Rotisserie Chicken $1 off. When I was there picking up a few things the other day I checked the price of the rotisserie chicken and the sign says ShopRite sale price $5.99 - $1.00 with your Price Plus Card . Final Price $4.99! Yeah the "sale price" is the price ShopRite has been selling it for for the past many weeks!


Now what really grinds my gears is that 1 gallon of milk has been $2.99 at Stop & Shop for the past few weeks. It couldn't be that price when I was still working there and getting an employee discount. *Eye Roll*

I don't know why, but at least here in Connecticut a gallon of milk is typically cheaper at a convenience store such as 7-Eleven or Cumberland Farms or one of many other convenience stores than at the grocery store. Sometimes like with the Stop and Shop example above and sometimes at ShopRite you get milk on sale, but typically Milk at the grocery store is upwards of $4.99/gallon.

ShopRite 20 ounce loadf of White Bread usually $1.00 with Price Plus. Stop & Shop is 99 cents for 16 ounces! (Of course if you like Wheat, Whole Wheat, or Whole Grain you pay more. - Of course "healthy" crap is always more. I don't like Wheat Bread). We were at Dollar Tree a couple weeks ago and they had Wonder Bread - $1 for a 16 ounce loaf! No place I know where you can get Wonder Bread for $1.

[BillyGr]

Wegmans is surprising in that - seems that many people just see the fancy (and expensive) stuff they offer in the fresh sections and think that applies to the whole store.

Since I'm in the part of NY that doesn't get to have them :( I have been known to stop at them when we've travelled to areas they are and pick up stuff that is not perishable for bringing home (the paper products note in one post reminded me of their towels that were like $2.99 for 8 rolls for a long time (it seemed, given how often I was near the stores) a few years ago.

The milk thing seems to be a way of drawing people in to the smaller stores (and then hoping you'll buy other more expensive stuff while you are there), not just for convenience stores but places like drug stores as well (and Walgreens seems to do that with sales on several food items fairly regularly as well). 
The exception may be chains (Stewarts in this part of NY comes to mind) that started as dairy operations and thus may have lower prices just due to less people in the chain from farm to you.

[EddieJ1984]

You definitely have to know your prices. Now at one area ShopRite near me their 33 ounce rotisserie chickens  have been $4.99 for quite a while. This week's ad shows ShopRite Rotisserie Chicken $1 off. When I was there picking up a few things the other day I checked the price of the rotisserie chicken and the sign says ShopRite sale price $5.99 - $1.00 with your Price Plus Card . Final Price $4.99! Yeah the "sale price" is the price ShopRite has been selling it for for the past many weeks!


Now what really grinds my gears is that 1 gallon of milk has been $2.99 at Stop & Shop for the past few weeks. It couldn't be that price when I was still working there and getting an employee discount. *Eye Roll*

I don't know why, but at least here in Connecticut a gallon of milk is typically cheaper at a convenience store such as 7-Eleven or Cumberland Farms or one of many other convenience stores than at the grocery store. Sometimes like with the Stop and Shop example above and sometimes at ShopRite you get milk on sale, but typically Milk at the grocery store is upwards of $4.99/gallon.

ShopRite 20 ounce loadf of White Bread usually $1.00 with Price Plus. Stop & Shop is 99 cents for 16 ounces! (Of course if you like Wheat, Whole Wheat, or Whole Grain you pay more. - Of course "healthy" crap is always more. I don't like Wheat Bread). We were at Dollar Tree a couple weeks ago and they had Wonder Bread - $1 for a 16 ounce loaf! No place I know where you can get Wonder Bread for $1.

Well at least you got an employee discount, when I worked at Giant there was none at all! I'm moving and being on my own in a month so I'll certainly be paying close attention to prices. My preference factoring in distance and price would be Shoprite (closest > Giant > Acme, nearest wegmans is 24 minutes away in jersey.
Where I'm moving to, which is still in PA, wegmens is still 20 minutes away in jersey (princeton). and giant is a half mile away, so giant probably will be my preferred store.

[store215]

Well at least you got an employee discount, when I worked at Giant there was none at all! I'm moving and being on my own in a month so I'll certainly be paying close attention to prices. My preference factoring in distance and price would be Shoprite (closest > Giant > Acme, nearest wegmans is 24 minutes away in jersey.
Where I'm moving to, which is still in PA, wegmens is still 20 minutes away in jersey (princeton). and giant is a half mile away, so giant probably will be my preferred store.

Giant has gone way downhill, prices are all they have anymore, and even recently some prices haven't been that impressive. I'm not brand loyal, so I typically can do the majority of my shopping at Aldi and pick up the specials at ShopRite, with a Wegmans trip once in a while if I happen to be close by or I happen to be shopping after Aldi closes.

[FitchMike26]

I wish Aldi was an option for me. Every time I've browsed there, the items on my list are cheaper somewhere else.

This is probably my fault though: I don't buy the stuff that Aldi has it's best deals on.

[EddieJ1984]

I like how their yogurt looks now

[giantsfan2016]

Giant has been named the official grocery store of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team.

http://www.theshelbyreport.com/2018/05/09/giant-food-philadelphia-phillies-grocer/

[MikeRa]

Giant has been named the official grocery store of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team.

http://www.theshelbyreport.com/2018/05/09/giant-food-philadelphia-phillies-grocer/

Giant is also the official supermarket of the Philadelphia Flyers

[MikeRa]

A new Giant store will open in Feasterville, PA on August 10.  The store on Bustelton Pike (former Genuardi's) will close on August 9. The new store was built on the site of a Kmart

[retailisking]

http://www.theshelbyreport.com/2018/10/04/giant-heirloom-market-new-store-concept/

[retailisking]

First Darrenkamp's, and now Ferguson & Hassler (Fergie's) sell out to Giant
https://lancasteronline.com/business/local_business/ferguson-hassler-in-quarryville-to-close-after-years-sell-to/article_ce7a676e-7af8-11e9-a195-ffa6d57921ae.html
https://www.pennlive.com/food/2019/05/giant-agrees-to-buy-independent-grocer-in-lancaster-county.html

[Brammy]

Hey. It's Brammy and I'm back on the board.

I just got back from King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. On Sunday when I was with my friend Kyle we stopped at the Giant on South Henderson Road in King of Prussia, so I could pick up some snacks for me to eat on the train on the way back to Connecticut. While at under 50,000 Square feet, which is small for a grocery store, it was laid out okay, unlike the Stop and Shop in Centennial Plaza in Meriden, Connecticut, which is of a similar size feels cramped. Anyway back to the Giant in KOP - they had an area for same-day Peapod Pick-Up (something being rolled out at many locations of both Giant and Stop and Shop) and I didn't see Marty the robot. I believe Giant got this site from Genuardi's.

While there is nothing wrong with the KOP Giant, they should've moved into the former ACME on DeKalb Pike rather than Hobby Lobby, if for no other reason than to just give Giant a bigger store. The former ACME is around 57,000 Square Feet.

[JimSawhill]

Hey. It's Brammy and I'm back on the board.

I just got back from King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. On Sunday when I was with my friend Kyle we stopped at the Giant on South Henderson Road in King of Prussia, so I could pick up some snacks for me to eat on the train on the way back to Connecticut. While at under 50,000 Square feet, which is small for a grocery store, it was laid out okay, unlike the Stop and Shop in Centennial Plaza in Meriden, Connecticut, which is of a similar size feels cramped. Anyway back to the Giant in KOP - they had an area for same-day Peapod Pick-Up (something being rolled out at many locations of both Giant and Stop and Shop) and I didn't see Marty the robot. I believe Giant got this site from Genuardi's.

While there is nothing wrong with the KOP Giant, they should've moved into the former ACME on DeKalb Pike rather than Hobby Lobby, if for no other reason than to just give Giant a bigger store. The former ACME is around 57,000 Square Feet.

Marc, Welcome back!! How many names have you had here? Just wondering...

[Brammy]

Giant has some big plans. Many new stores including one at 23rd and Arch in Philly,  many store remodels, and a giant (pun intended) Giant Direct warehouse in Philly. They're also experimenting with small size stores called Giant Heirloom Markets.

https://www.supermarketnews.com/retail-financial/giant-food-stores-has-bigger-plans-pennsylvania

[FitchMike26]

Plus 2 more full sized stores in Philadelphia:

https://www.inquirer.com/real-estate/commercial/lidl-giant-south-philadelphia-blatstein-wawa-gas-station-foxwoods-20200117.html

[MikeRa]

I was at the GIANT Heirloom Market on North 2nd Street, Philadelphia PA earlier today.  It is a mix of a traditional GIANT (Produce and select departments) mixed with a convenient store (7 Eleven/Wawa).  The one I was at also at sells Draft Beers & Wines you can drink at, at "Heirloom Underground"

[MikeRa]

GIANT also renamed/moderized the BonusCard to GIANT/MARTIN'S Choice Rewards.  For this new program, you need a online account.  If you have a BonusCard, it will still work as your Choice Rewards card.

[EddieJ1984]

I was around the Yardley, PA Giant a few weeks ago, it was in the middle of getting remodeled to the current decor (I would call it the "For todays table" decor), the outside sign hasn't been changed to the current Giant logo yet.

[Brammy]

I went to Giant in The Metroplex Shopping Center in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania two weeks ago.

Here's what I was surprised by:

In-Store Starbucks

A special register to pay for alcoholic beverages.

A small seating area to eat.

A salad bar.

Sandwiches that were bigger than the ones at sister chain Stop & Shop.