Giant Food | Millsboro, DE

24939 John J. Williams Highway

Welcome to the Millsboro Giant Food!

One more week in the First State, and one more supermarket on John J. Williams Highway in Millsboro! Last August, we saw the Harris Teeter down the road, and last week, we saw the Weis across the street. Today, we're taking a tour of the Giant Food of Millsboro. It opened in 2008 as the latest of five Giant Food stores in Delaware, and also likely the only one to not originally open as Super G. As you can see, it has the standard Ahold design from the 2000s that was also used by Stop & Shop stores. Let's head inside and take cover from the rain once again!

Quite a plain (and large) entrance area. 👋🚪🛒

After walking through the entrance doors, we find the floral department to our right and the bakery to our left. This store has the same decor that we saw at the Wilmington Giant Food in north Delaware last October.

Completing the grand aisle are the fresh kitchen, deli, produce, and seafood and meat. I'll repeat my statement from October: "Personally, while I don't love how the store is devoid of almost any color, I do like the signage." It would be nice if there were some pops of color instead of all gray and white.

The meat selection takes up most of the back wall. Throughout the store, I saw several of those displays. Seeing the Giant Food logo got me wondering if there are any plans to replace it. Stop & Shop, which launched their own fruit bowl logo at the same time, replaced it back in 2018 with a modern version of their classic traffic light logo. It would be interesting to see a modern take on Giant Food's classic G logo.

A look at aisle 8, home to various cooking needs. Even the aisle markers are missing color. Although I've always thought "kitchen gadgets" was a funny and whimsical phrase to put on an aisle marker.

Dairy and frozen are on the right side of the store. Here we get a look at the backlit photos, which I do really like.

The pharmacy department is in the front right corner. This is the first time we've seen a pharmacy in Millsboro, as neither Weis nor Harris Teeter have one. Giant Pharmacy isn't the only option, though, as there's a Rite Aid across the street and a Walgreens in the same shopping center as Harris Teeter.

Another interesting thing about this store is that it has a Starbucks, which is the first thing shoppers see walking in through the other entrance.

Checkouts and customer service are on the front end of the store.

Before we go, here's a look at the store map posted in the main vestibule. I would think it's from when the store first opened, as it's missing the pharmacy (instead having the floral department there) and has a "bank area" along the front wall, which I believe just contained random merchandise when I was there.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2024

How the store looked just a few months ago. No different at all.

2008

The store and the trees are both babies here. This was probably one of the last stores to open with the previous Giant Food logo.

Nearby competition

0.5 miles away: Weis of Millsboro

Last week's store was the Weis across the street. It opened in 2016 in a former Food Lion, which was the first grocery store in this area of Millsboro, opening in 1994.

0.7 miles away: Harris Teeter of Millsboro

And last year, we took a tour of the town's Harris Teeter, one of only two in Delaware (and, if the Albertsons-Kroger merger manages to go through, the only one), which, like the Giant Food, opened in 2008.

Thanks for joining me on this tour! This was a nice store, and my only gripe about it was the lack of color in its decor, which probably isn't worth noting for the average shopper. Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'll see you next week! The little things are The Retail Connection.

 

Weis | Millsboro, DE

24832 John J. Williams Highway

Welcome to the Millsboro Weis!

While we aren't quite back to Pennsylvania yet, we're definitely much further north than we were in Florida! We'll be spending the next two weeks in Millsboro, a medium-sized town located in southern Delaware between Rehoboth Beach and Ocean City. Last year, we saw the Harris Teeter in town, and this year we'll be taking a look at the other two supermarkets in this part of town, Weis and Giant Food. When the Nanticoke Crossing shopping center first opened back in 1994, its main anchor was Food Lion. In 2016, following the Ahold-Delhaize merger, the store and 37 others in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia were sold to Weis Markets of Pennsylvania. Weis reopened the store on October 14, 2016, along with other ex-Food Lions in Delaware in Millville, Lewes, and Rehoboth Beach (now closed). Let's take a look inside one of the few Weis stores in Delaware!

This store doesn't have much of a grand aisle, but the deli and bakery are located diagonally down the right wall, with the produce department in the back corner. This store has Weis's current decor package, which we also saw in East Norriton and Conshohocken. I'm not a huge fan of it, especially in a smaller store with low ceilings like this one.

The packaged meat department and the meat and seafood counter are on the back wall. As you can see by now, nothing in this decor matches literally anything else.

It's been a while since we've seen an aisle 12! In this store, it's home to paper products.

The last few aisles contain dairy items and frozen foods. And umbrellas, since we're not far from the beach.

This corner of the store next to the customer service counter has an assortment of random sale items. I'm not too familiar with Food Lion, but I would imagine this would be where the pharmacy would go in an average store with this layout. I know this store definitely never had one, though, as there was an Edgehill Pharmacy next door upon opening (acquired by Rite Aid in 1999, then moved across the street in 2014).

I thought this display of Old Bay merchandise was interesting. This store is only about 13 miles from the Maryland border.

And, finally, the checkout lanes. The "thank you for shopping at Weis" sign is from the previous Weis decor package, which this store never had. It might've been added when the store first opened as Weis, if it opened with Food Lion decor in the rest of the store.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2024

Not much of a different vibe here, other than much nicer weather. I visited next week's store on a different day, and the weather wasn't much better at all.

2008

This store seemed to have had a weirdly bare-bones version of the Food Lion logo, without the iconic lion. As you can see, Weis didn't make any changes to the exterior other than putting their logo up.

Nearby competition

0.5 miles away: Giant Food of Millsboro

Next week, we'll be taking a look at the last of the three supermarkets in this part of Millsboro, the Giant Food. It opened in 2008 and has Giant Food's current decor inside (which we've seen before, in Wilmington).

1 mile away: Harris Teeter of Millsboro

Almost exactly a year ago today, we toured the Harris Teeter a mile down the road. This store also opened in 2008, giving Food Lion two competitors in one year after years of standing alone. I chose to tour this store last year over the Weis or Giant Food due to the possibility of it being sold in the Albertsons-Kroger merger, but the list of stores has since come out, and this one will definitely be spared (the other DE Harris Teeter, Selbyville, is on the list, however).

Thanks for coming along with me on this Weis tour! This store was definitely quite different than the other two Weis locations we've seen, both acquired Genuardi's stores. It was a nice store, although it did feel dated inside despite the modern decor. By the way, if you've been wondering what a Weis-built store looks like, here's one of their newer models, as toured by The Market Report in 2022. A store of this model will be opening in Delaware in Middletown next year, their first purpose-built store in the state. Anyway, I'll see you next week across the street! Eat better, spend less, that's The Retail Connection!

 

Harris Teeter | Millsboro, DE

26370 Bay Farm Road

Welcome to the Millsboro Harris Teeter!

Last week, we toured a one-word store in a two-word town. This week, we're touring a two-word store in a one-word town! The Harris Teeter in Millsboro opened in May 2008 as the second Delaware location of the chain. The store is unchanged inside and out from when it first opened, so let's take a look!

Obviously, the previous logo is still seen all throughout the store.

We enter to the right into the Farmers Market department, with produce and packaged fruits and melons. I really love the murals seen throughout the various departments, including here in produce.

Deli and bakery encompass the Fresh Foods Market on the right side of the store. A photo of this area from shortly after the store first opened can be seen here.

Bread, international cheeses, and floral are across from the main service departments on the right side of the store.

Service meat and the Fisherman's Market are in the back corner past the bakery.

Packaged meats are up next on the back wall. The meat department, known as Harris Teeter Rancher, was the first to be renamed in 2002 during Harris Teeter's attempt to provide a more unique shopping experience with special branded departments.

Looking down aisle 5 towards Breakfast & Luncheon Meats.

And a close up of one of the very intricately-detailed aisle markers.

While Harris Teeter does carry some brands from its parent company Kroger, their house brand is still Harris Teeter and even comes from their warehouses. I'm assuming this is because Kroger wants to differentiate Harris Teeter from themselves as they operate in some of the same areas.

Dairy takes up the rest of the back wall. I love the milk signage. While Harris Teeter's new decor looks nice, too, it definitely lacks the character this look has.

Frozen foods and a ton of Harris Teeter-branded coolers are in the last aisle. I wonder how old that ice cream photo is.

Health and beauty aids are located in the front half of some of the aisles on the left side of the store. This location does not have a pharmacy.

Books and magazines are in their own designated alcove on the front wall across from health and beauty.

A look at the checkout lanes. Harris Teeter has the strangest register configuration I've ever seen. You get in line behind the cashier, and when it's your turn, you give them your cart and then squeeze through the gap in between the register displays and the actual counter while they take your items out of the cart and bag them themselves. No conveyor belt here.

Customer service is across from the checkout lanes.

There was this fenced-in area just past the entrance/exit, which I'm assuming used to be a coffee shop judging by the signage but is now empty space.

Other Images of Interest

Street View Images

2015

Only one Street View picture for this store, which shows that it's had essentially zero remodeling since opening.

Nearby competition

0.7 miles away: Giant of Millsboro

Up the street is the Millsboro Giant, which opened back in the mid 2000's. This is a pretty standard Ahold-era Giant, and looks just like a Stop & Shop from the time.

1 mile away: Weis of Millsboro

The Millsboro Weis is exactly one mile away from Harris Teeter. This store was one of four former Food Lions in Delaware to be acquired by Weis in 2016 during the Ahold-Delhaize merger. I took this picture last summer, but the store looks the same today.

That's all for today's post. What did you think of this Harris Teeter? This store really felt like a ShopRite to me for some reason. It was definitely a nice store though. I'm also glad to be able to present a Harris Teeter, or even a Kroger-owned store in general, to the blog, considering there are not many in this area. Remember to check out my Flickr to see all the retail I saw during my time in Delaware. Next week, we're headed back to New Jersey to tour an Acme. See you then! Thank you for shopping The Retail Connection: In Food with Love.