1502 West Chester Pike
Welcome to the Westtown GIANT!
We have crossed the border into Chester County and are touring one of their many GIANT stores! However, there wasn't always a GIANT here. Marketplace at Westtown opened in 1979 with a planned anchor of A&P. However, the store didn't open until 1982, by which point A&P's Philadelphia division had been renamed SuperFresh. The store lasted until 2001, then was briefly vacant until Clemens opened in 2003. The store was sold to GIANT in 2006. GIANT closed on January 6, 2017 and demolished the building in short order, with this brand new location opening on November 10. Let's look around!
Upon entering, beer and wine is to the right and produce is straight ahead. Right off the bat, I was not a fan of the dark ceiling. It made the store a lot less inviting than it would be with a lighter ceiling.
The fresh kitchen and deli are on the right wall, with the bakery being the first department in the back of the store. The decor here is certainly not ugly, but it's very bland.
Meat and seafood are located next to the bakery. Having recipes on the wall is a cool touch, but as PlazaACME noted, there's no explanation as to how you're actually supposed to prepare it, so it's not very helpful.
Jumping to the front end for a moment for a look down aisle 2, full of chips and other snacks. I believe this is also our first time seeing Marty, the robotic assistant at GIANT and Stop & Shop. I don't know if they have him at Martin's, but since they share a name I would hope so!
Milk is in the back left corner and the rest of dairy is in the last aisle. I think the dairy department is the best-looking area in the store, which usually isn't the case.
The GIANT Direct zone, checkouts, and customer service can be found along the front end. I found the "Proudly Serving Westtown Since 2017" signage interesting, since while this store did technically open in 2017, they've been in this spot since 2006.
Other Images of Interest
The previous Westtown GIANT
Photo courtesy of PlazaACME
PlazaACME has a lot of great photos of the original store on Flickr. GIANT retained the Clemens decor until this building's very end.
Street View Images
2023
The sun is shining on the store here, so you can see it a lot better.
2007
Here's the old store, with its unique Clemens-meets-A&P facade. The footprint of the current GIANT also includes a former Rite Aid. The Rite Aid relocated across the street shortly before GIANT was demolished.
Nearby competition
2.8 miles away: ShopRite of West Chester
ShopRite stores aren't very common in this neck of the woods, but West Chester has one! This store is quite old, too, dating back to the 1960s. We will be touring this location next Friday.
3.5 miles away: Acme of West Goshen
We started this adventure with the Acme in Newtown Square, and we're ending it with the Acme in West Goshen! This store is also pretty old, having first opened in 1958. It received a major expansion in the 80s, and currently has the Quality Built decor inside.
That is going to do it for our tour of this GIANT! While I'm sure it's a pretty nice store for the average shopper, I was not impressed by this location, with the dark atmosphere and bland decor. I thought the Newtown Square store was much more inviting. Anyway, we'll be headed into West Chester next week to see two more stores. Have a great weekend, and Merry Christmas to all who celebrate! The Retail Connection: For today's table.
