Giant Kicks off 75th Anniversary

JON SPRINGER

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Giant of Landover recognized its 75th anniversary Thursday with a celebration at a Giant store only blocks from the site where N.M. Cohen and Samuel Lehrman founded the company in 1936.

Four grandsons of the founders were in attendance, as community leaders, representatives of Giant's charity partners, Giant officials and shoppers recognized the company's birthday. All 179 Giant stores had scheduled to unveil anniversary cakes Thursday evening, and officials said they were planning anniversary events throughout the year highlighting each of Giant's eight decades.

Mike Conlon, a regional vice president who is a 40-year Giant employee, said the company has endured because of the lasting influence of the founding family, including Israel "Izzy" Cohen, the son of founder N.M. Cohen, who led the company's expansion and was a strong advocate of a quality and service positioning Giant still maintains.

"Izzy built a company based on people," Conlon told SN in an interview. "And the people he built it with were the people working in the stores. That to me is what has held until this day. It is a foundation of the company."

Giant of Landover, Md., is a division of Amsterdam-based Ahold.