Giant/Martin's Marks 90 Years in Grocery Business

GIANT Food Stores and MARTIN’S Food Markets officially marked its 90th anniversary with a special celebration this morning at its hometown Carlisle, Pa. store. It marked the culmination of 90 days of giving throughout the grocer’s local communities with a $9,000 donation to Project SHARE, an interfaith, non-profit cooperative effort, based in Carlisle, created to meet the needs of the hungry by providing supplementary food and nutritional education on a monthly basis. “Since GIANT/MARTIN’S was founded in Carlisle on October 4 1923, our commitment to being a good neighbor has been unwavering,” says Rick Herring, president. “We celebrate with and wish all of our associates a happy 90th birthday.” GIANT/MARTIN’S 90 days of giving expanded on the company’s “Living Here, Giving Here” community support program throughout the various communities they serve. The company awarded a total of $81,000 nine regional food bank partners. In addition, each of the company’s 200 stores conducted at least one random act of kindness throughout the summer and into the early fall. These acts, focused on helping eradicate hunger, improving the lives of children or building healthy communities, varied by community. “Our 90 days of giving enabled us to give back to our local communities and exemplified the enthusiastic and generous spirit of our associates, who we view as our best community ambassadors,” adds Herring. In addition to the celebration at the Carlisle, Pa., store, all 200 GIANT/MARTIN’S stores will be handing out free slices of cake and free apple slices to customers today from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and also from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. while supplies last. GIANT/MARTIN’S was founded in 1923 when David Javitch opened a two-man butcher shop called the Carlisle Meat Market in Central Pennsylvania, building his business on the premise of the “best products at the fairest price.” More than a decade later, Javitch purchased a store in Lewistown, Pa., naming it the GIANT Shopping Food Center and introduced a new concept – dry goods and perishables under one roof. Growth of the full-fledge grocery store continued and GIANT purchased the MARTIN’S chain in Hagerstown, MD in 1970. The 1980s and 1990s, marked a complete modernization of GIANT/MARTIN’S stores with remodels, expansions and upgrades, in addition to doubling its store count. In recent years, GIANT/MARTIN’S has continued to grow within the communities it currently served in addition to expansion into new markets, including Philadelphia, Pa. and greater Richmond and Williamsburg, Va.. Today GIANT/MARTIN’S is in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, operating 200 grocery stores and employing approximately 31,000 associates. Since 2005, GIANT/MARTIN’S has donated more than $150 million in combined cash and product donations throughout the markets they serve.