The Giant Company, formerly known as Giant Food Stores, is an American regional supermarket chain headquartered in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The company operates stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia under the Giant and Martin’s brands. It is a subsidiary of Ahold Delhaize. The chain competes as a value-oriented regional grocer, emphasizing competitive pricing and local market focus. Giant-Carlisle is largely non-union, with the exception of stores in Lewistown and Burnham, Pennsylvania.
The company was renamed from Giant Food Stores to The Giant Company in 2020. 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 chain provides online shopping and delivery to New Jersey through Giant Direct.
Retail Formats and Where It Operates
The company operates stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia under the Giant and Martin’s brands. 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. In November 2025, Giant opened a major store, a 68,000-square-foot location in South Mall in Salisbury Township, Pennsylvania, between Allentown and Emmaus.
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. Giant-Carlisle purchased Martin’s while expanding in 1968. The name, once known only in Hagerstown, was expanded into nearby Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, Martinsburg, West Virginia, Frederick, Maryland, and Winchester, Virginia. The chain has since expanded further west into Maryland’s Allegany County, into West Virginia’s Jefferson and Mineral counties, into Virginia’s Culpeper and Warren counties, and as far south as Petersburg, Virginia. The Martin’s name was extended into west central Pennsylvania upon the purchase of corporate-owned Jubilee Foods stores.
Company Background
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.
Early expansion proved difficult. 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. 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 purchased the Martin’s chain, based in Hagerstown, in 1969, and expanded to New Jersey in 1970, opening three stores under the name Clover-Markets. 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.
The company remained family-controlled until 1981. Giant Food Stores was founded in 1923 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and acquired by Amsterdam-based Royal Ahold (later renamed Ahold Delhaize) in 1981. At that time, Giant had 29 supermarkets. Ahold’s ownership accelerated growth significantly; Giant kept growing throughout the 1980s. By the mid-1990s, almost all Giant and Martin’s stores were updated.
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.
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. Ukrop’s Super Markets, Inc. was being acquired by Ahold USA’s Carlisle, Pa.-based Giant Food Stores subsidiary for about $140 million, which includes the longtime Richmond, Va.-based independent’s inventory, equipment, lease agreements and one new store location. The deal closed in the first quarter of 2010, with Giant expected to hire Ukrop’s store associates as part of the transaction that expanded its presence in Virginia with the acquisition of 25 of Ukrop’s 27 stores in the greater Richmond and Williamsburg, Va., areas.
Giant opened its first grocery store within the limits of the City of Philadelphia in 2011 on Grant Avenue. On January 5, 2012, Giant announced it would acquire 16 Genuardi’s Family Markets across the Philadelphia area in a $106 million deal.
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. Giant claims that the addition of the robotic assistant to stores allows for employees to spend more time engaging with customers.
Martin’s exited the Richmond metropolitan area in 2017, closing some stores and selling the remainder to Publix Super Markets. The latter was due to Ahold’s merger with Delhaize Group, the parent company of Food Lion, which has several stores in the Richmond area, some of which were located in close proximity to the Martin’s stores.
Ownership, Structure and Financial History
It is a subsidiary of Ahold Delhaize. The company operates as part of a global Dutch-Belgian conglomerate that also owns sister supermarket chains including Giant Food of Landover, Stop & Shop, and Food Lion. The mid-Atlantic region is characterized by thin-margin grocery competition, and Giant has pursued a strategy of competitive pricing and cost control to maintain profitability. On October 11, 2007, Ahold USA announced the sale of Tops Markets, LLC to Morgan Stanley Private Equity, separating Giant-Carlisle from Tops.
The company has made strategic acquisitions to consolidate regional market position. As of December 14, 2011, Giant and Martin’s together have 92 gas stations and they have more than 180 stores in four states. Fuel stations and pharmacies have become essential revenue drivers, offering loyalty-program-driven volume and higher-margin health services.
Product Range and Store Brands
Giant operates a comprehensive grocery offering centered on produce, fresh meat, and specialty items. The company maintains multiple private-label brands at different price points. Guaranteed Value consists of about 70 commonly purchased products in the grocery, home cleaning product, household goods and pet food categories. Guaranteed Value gives the retailer a low-cost private-label tier and joins other corporate brands like the Giant brand of cookies and crackers, Nature’s Promise natural and organics, and CareOne health care line. Generic store brands tend to cost 10% to 20% less than national brands, while Guaranteed Value costs 20% to 35% less, depending on the category and promotions the national brand may be running.
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. Digital loyalty and delivery services are now central to competitive positioning. The chain provides online shopping and delivery to New Jersey through Giant Direct. Many stores offer pharmacies, floral departments, prepared foods, and deli service tailored to community preferences.
People and Workplace
Giant-Carlisle is largely non-union, with the exception of stores in Lewistown and Burnham, Pennsylvania. The Giant Company maintains a predominantly non-union workforce across its more than 190 stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, a structure that has drawn criticism from employees seeking collective bargaining representation. Company training programs explicitly address opposition to unionization, fostering an environment resistant to organizing activities, though workers have occasionally attempted to unionize in response to concerns over wages, benefits, and working conditions.
In 2020, they installed a large solar panel system on the roof of their main office in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. They also added a seven-acre solar field nearby. In 2021, Giant made a deal to get renewable energy for many of its stores, gas stations, and distribution centers in Pennsylvania.
Since 2018, Giant has been the official grocer for the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team.
Market Position and Competition
Giant competes in a highly consolidated regional market dominated by larger national chains and discounters. Its differentiation centers on competitive pricing, local market presence via the Martin’s banner, and an expanding digital and pharmacy footprint. The acquisition strategy over the past two decades—Martin’s in 1969, Clemens in 2006, Ukrops in 2010, Genuardi’s in 2012, and Shop ‘n Save locations in 2018—reflects a consistent approach to filling geographic gaps and acquiring loyal customer bases in underserved communities. Giant opened its first grocery store within the limits of the City of Philadelphia in 2011 on Grant Avenue. Urban expansion has been methodical, leveraging the smaller Giant Heirloom Market format to navigate space constraints and demographic differences.
E-commerce and delivery have emerged as competitive necessities. The chain’s investment in online ordering, curbside pickup, and home delivery reflects response to structural shifts in grocery shopping behavior accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fuel programs and loyalty rewards remain critical to traffic and frequency, especially in suburban markets where gas price competition is intense.
Notable Developments and Outlook
Giant’s corporate name change in 2020 signaled a refresh of brand identity under Ahold Delhaize ownership. The Giant Company changed from the name Giant Food Stores in 2020. The introduction of robotic store assistants in 2019, expansion of the Giant Heirloom Market format into Philadelphia’s dense neighborhoods, and emphasis on private-label value have positioned the company to compete against both conventional rivals and discount grocers.
The company faces ongoing headwinds from e-commerce giants, consolidation among larger regional chains, and labor cost pressures. The 2016 merger of parent company Ahold with Delhaize Group formed Ahold Delhaize, solidifying Giant’s role in a diversified U.S. portfolio that included brands like Food Lion and Hannaford; the deal required divesting 81 overlapping stores to secure regulatory approval but enabled shared best practices in pharmacy services and supply chain efficiency. Geographic overlap with sister chains Food Lion (via Delhaize) and the closure or sale of Virginia stores in 2017 illustrate ongoing portfolio optimization under Ahold Delhaize’s umbrella strategy. The company’s fundamentals depend on maintaining cost discipline, leveraging scale in procurement, and deepening digital and pharmacy revenue streams in an increasingly competitive Mid-Atlantic market.
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