The Giant Company

American supermarket chain

The Giant Company is often known as Giant Carlisle or Giant/Martin's to distinguish it from Giant Food, a Maryland headquartered sister chain also owned by Ahold Delhaize and often referred to as Giant Landover.

The retail company launched in 1923 when David Javitch opened a small meat market in Carlisle, Pennsylvania called Carlisle Meat Market. In 1936, Javitch purchased a store in Lewistown, Pennsylvania, which he named the Giant Shopping Food Center. It was a major change from the original Carlisle Meat Market in that it was a total grocery store. The new store offered dry goods and perishables under one roof; a new concept at that time. The store was a success, and soon a decision was made to expand the original Carlisle store from a basic meat market into a full fledged grocery store. The business also experienced a number of setbacks. Prior to purchasing the Lewistown store, Javitch purchased a store in Hagerstown, Maryland, that opened and closed within the same month. 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 and the stores continued to grow in the 1950s. 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. Javitch moved his downtown Carlisle store to a newly built structure at 100 North Hanover Street in 1953, renaming it Carlisle Food Market. The Carlisle store was very modern for its time, with features like a parking lot, baggers, and outside lighting. A second Carlisle Food Market location opened in 1964 at the Carlisle Plaza Shopping Center. The company continued to open other stores under the Giant Foods name. In 1968, the ninth store opened in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. David Javitch became chairman of the board, passing the presidency to his son, Lee Javitch. 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. The company purchased the Martin's chain, based in Hagerstown, Maryland, in 1969, and expanded to New Jersey in 1970, opening three stores under the name Clover Markets. In 1972, Nick Riso joined the company as vice president of sales and operations. A new merchandising effort began with the introduction of "Everyday Low Prices." By 1973, the company's 50th anniversary, the company operated a total of 18 stores. 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 1980s approached, the company had grown to a workforce of 3,400. Major organizational change occurred in January 2003. Ultimately, Shared Services evolved to the extent that Tops was fully integrated into the Giant organization. On October 12, 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. Another new Super Giant opened in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania on March 5, 2008, with a total area of , making it Giant's largest store in Pennsylvania. On September 6, 2006, Jack Clemens of Clemens Family Markets Inc. and his family sold 14 of their 22 stores to Royal Ahold, and eight to C&S Wholesalers. Thirteen of the Ahold stores were rebranded as Giant and one remained branded FoodSource (which was Clemens' upscale gourmet banner), while C&S immediately sold six of the stores to A&P, which re branded them SuperFresh stores. On February 1, 2007, Carl Schlicker assumed responsibility as CEO of Giant/Tops, replacing the retiring Schiano. A year later, on July 10, 2008, Royal Ahold announced that Sander van der Laan, at the time the Executive Vice President of Marketing and Merchandising for Albert Heijn (a Dutch supermarket chain owned by Ahold), had been appointed president and CEO of Giant Carlisle, succeeding Carl Schlicker who had been appointed president and CEO of Stop & Shop/Giant Landover. On October 11, 2007, Ahold USA announced the sale of Tops Markets, LLC to Morgan Stanley Private Equity, separating Giant Carlisle from Tops. It was announced on December 17, 2009, that Giant Carlisle would purchase the Ukrops chain, expanding their market further into Virginia. These stores operated under the Martin's banner.

On January 7, 2010, it was announced that Rick Herring would become the new president and CEO of Giant Carlisle. Giant opened its first grocery store within the limits of the City of Philadelphia in 2011 on Grant Avenue. As of December 14, 2011, Giant and Martin's together have 92 gas stations and they have more than 180 stores in four states. On January 5, 2012, Giant announced it would acquire 16 Genuardi's Family Markets across the Philadelphia area in a $106 million deal. In January 2018, Nicholas Bertram became the new President of Giant/Martin's following Tom Lenkevich’s retirement. In November 2018, Giant Carlisle announced that it would acquire 5 Shop 'n Save supermarkets from SuperValu, Inc. and operate them under its Martin's Food Markets banner. In 2019, the Giant also acquired one store from Ferguson & Hassler and three stores from Musser’s Markets in Pennsylvania. In 2019, Giant began the rollout of a robotic assistant named "Marty" to all of its locations. "Marty" travels unassisted around the store and checks for hazards. The addition of the robotic assistant to stores allows for employees to spend more time engaging with customers. In 2019, Giant introduced Giant Heirloom Market, a smaller store format designed for urban areas. The first Giant Heirloom Market location opened on January 25, 2019, in the Graduate Hospital neighborhood in Philadelphia. Giant Heirloom Market has also opened locations in the Philadelphia neighborhoods of University City and Northern Liberties. The Northern Liberties location also features an underground taproom. In August 2019, Giant announced it would open a two story, flagship store in Center City Philadelphia as part of the Riverwalk development along the Schuylkill River. The store, which features dedicated shelf space for local vendors, an outdoor terrace, and a free parking garage, opened on March 19, 2021. In February 2019, the company launched its first e commerce hub Giant Direct brand for online pickup and delivery orders.

In February 2020, Giant Food Stores announced its plans to adopt a new name, The Giant Company, and update logos across its grocery retailer business locations. In August 2020, following the re branding campaign, the company introduced a new slogan "For Today's Table", with the focus on family values. According to a number of sources, the grocery chain had temporarily to limit some of the vital products in the beginning of the COVID 19 pandemic but over time resumed back to normal practice. The company's officials also used public social media channels to discourage hoarding. Among other measures were reserved shopping time for customers age 60 and older, changing store hours and contactless delivery for online grocery orders through Giant/Martin’s Direct. In March 2021, Glennis Harris joined The Giant Company as senior vice president of customer experience. In November 2021, the Giant company opened a new Giant Direct E commerce Fulfillment Center (EFC) on Island Avenue in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A 124,000 square foot facility operates as a distribution center for Giant Direct online orders as well as brick and mortar customers in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey with the claimed capacity of about 15,000 home delivery orders per week. The supermarket chain also partnered with robotics provider Swisslog to automate routine processes in its distribution center, which includes the installation of AutoStore’s robotic storage and retrieval system. In November and December, Giant opened three new supermarkets – two in Philadelphia (a 67,000 square foot store at 2201 Cottman Avenue and a 46,000 square foot store at 1403 South Christopher Columbus Boulevard) – and the third in Bucks County, a 72,500 square foot store in the Cross Keys Place shopping center in Doylestown. On December 16, 2021, a Giant Heirloom Market location opened in the ground level of the former Strawbridge & Clothier flagship department store at the Fashion District Philadelphia. The company retrofitted the 32,000 square foot space of the historical building while preserving its interior design elements. Giant also announced plans to open two more stores in Philadelphia – a 50,000 square foot supermarket on North Broad Street and a 40,000 square foot supermarket on South Broad Street at the corner of Washington Avenue. On January 6, 2022, Parag Shah was appointed as the company's VP omnichannel merchandising center store.

Martin's Foods is a chain of supermarkets operating in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and western Pennsylvania. Like Giant stores, they are operated by Giant Carlisle and are owned by Ahold Delhaize. The stores are generally identical to Giant Carlisle stores. In 1998, when Ahold purchased Giant Landover, some Martin's stores were closed and sold to other chains to comply with Federal Trade Commission regulations. These locations included stores in Frederick, Carroll, Harford and Cecil counties in Maryland, where the Giant of Landover name was seen as more dominant. However, two stores in this area, in Eldersburg and in Rising Sun, were not sold and continue to operate as Martin's to this day. The chain, along with Giant Carlisle, implemented the Bonuscard program in 2000. Around that same time, the chain began selling gasoline in front of its stores. Since August 2020, the chain's new slogan is "For Today's Table". Later that summer, the company added a seven acre pollinator friendly solar field at its Carlisle, Pennsylvania headquarters. In November 2021, the Giant Company made a long term agreement with energy provider Constellation to supply its operations in Pennsylvania for select stores, fuel stations, and distribution centers with renewable energy. According to the report, the company is scheduled to receive 155 million kilowatt hours of energy per year. As of 2022, the company was at the stage of getting permits and installation and planning to sell excess energy to the grid.

In 2018, Giant became official grocer of the Philadelphia Phillies and in October 2019 the company became official partner of the Philadelphia 76ers. In 2018, Giant also entered into a multi year agreement with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture to become the official sponsor of the Exposition Hall at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex & Expo Center in Harrisburg. The Giant Company has been engaged in other charity endeavors such as the Please Touch Museum, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and more. The company also collaborates with the Philadelphia Parks & Recreation Organization to finance sports and recreation projects. In January 2022, Giant donated $1million to Pennsylvania’s Harrisburg University of Science and Technology to fund its 23,000 square foot Research and Education Center for Advanced Agriculture and Sustainability. The grocery chain has also a long term philanthropic relationship with the Pennsylvania State University and supports the university's various associated projects, including Penn State Health Children’s Hospital, the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and Children’s Miracle Network (CMN).