4301 Concord Pike
Welcome to the Wilmington Giant!
Happy Friday the 13th! We've toured a few stores of GIANT-Carlisle, but this is our first time at their sister chain, Giant-Landover! This store opened in 1995 as Super G, and in the mid-2000's was remodeled and became a regular Giant, the only one in the greater Philadelphia area. In we go!
Upon entering the store, floral is to your left and produce is straight ahead. The floral sign doubles as signage for the self checkouts.
This cafe seems pretty lackluster and uninviting, and maybe it being empty isn't helping.
The deli. Not much to note here.
The kitchen is next to the deli. It would've made more sense to have the bakery here, and the kitchen in the bakery's spot next to the seating area, but I digress.
No more "Ocean & Tide" in meat and seafood. The remodel seems to have included the addition of a service meat/seafood counter, as this area was previously just cases.
Natural foods are in the first aisle (which is aisle 3, for some reason). I didn't know Giant-MD was still using the Nature's Promise name, as GIANT-PA has dropped it for simply "Plant Based".
Something Special is in the meat department! I really like how the lit pictures, reminiscent of the ones at Aldi, bring a pop of color to the walls.
Dairy and frozen are in the twenty-third and last aisle. This is a pretty large store.
The pharmacy is in the front left corner by the main entrance.
A look down the front end of the store at the aisles. As Sleeve Did it noted in his video tour of this store, the aisle markers in this decor are similar to the ones used by Food Lion's "Easy Fresh & Affordable" package.
Checkouts and customer service line the front end. This store used to have a PNC Bank branch, which was located across from the self checkouts behind floral, but that has since been removed and is now used as storage for seasonal merchandise.
Other Images of Interest
Street View Images
2023
A nice wide shot of the store in its current state.
2017
At this point, the store still had the mid-2000's decor, although it had been updated with the 2008 logo and exterior signage.
2007
Not a great picture, but it's the only one that shows the store with the old Giant logo.
Nearby competition
1.1 miles away: Sprouts Farmers Market of Wilmington
This Sprouts opened in March 2020 in a former Barnes & Noble, which was originally a Pathmark that closed in the 90's. This is currently the only Sprouts in Delaware, although they're working on one further south in Middletown.
3.8 miles away: Acme of Foulk & Naamans
Just about four miles from the Wilmington Giant is one of the many Acme stores of Wilmington, with this one being located at the corner of Foulk & Naamans Roads. The store opened back in the 70's as the anchor to the F&N Shopping Village. Inside, it has the early version of the Quality Built decor.
That concludes this edition of The Retail Connection! I found this Giant to be nice, clean, and well-stocked, and I really don't hate the decor. I think I found this store to be better than the average GIANT-PA, even though those feel more like home. Next week, we'll be taking a short break from the Philadelphia area and heading back to Illinois. See you then, and thank you for shopping with us! The little things are The Retail Connection.
I always will find it strange how two chains both named Giant, owned by the same parent company, and located in bordering territory too, can feel so different. I guess that's a good thing that Ahold-Delhaize is trying to kept the two chains somewhat distinct in look and feel, even if the products sold at the two Giants are basically the same these days.
ReplyDeleteI also wish Giant-Landover would switch back to the old "Big G" logo (or a modernized variant of it), especially after Stop & Shop did basically the same thing. There was something really distinct about the old Giant-Landover logo, and would help with keeping the feel of these stores distinct.
They definitely have a different feel! I think they both fit their respective areas well. After GIANT-PA acquired Clemens and their FoodSource division in 2006, they briefly operated a store in Wilmington, which is probably the only time both Giants have been in the same town. That store is now Janssen's Market - I stopped at Concord Pet Foods in Talleyville on my way to this Giant to get some things for my guinea pigs and noticed they had quite a few Janssen's carts!
DeleteI actually kind of like the fruit bowl logo, and I even think I prefer it to Stop & Shop's stoplight (at least the current version), but I do think the Big G would be an improvement. I'm just glad they didn't tack the fruit bowl onto GIANT-PA's logo.