GIANT SHOWCASING WEDDING, PROM SERVICES

RALPH RAIOLA

LANDOVER, Md. -- Giant Food's Super G division has been running a series of ads in local papers touting the wedding and prom services offered in the chain's floral departments and gift shops.

In an April 2 advertisement in a Philadelphia paper, a half-page vertical ad featured wedding specialty products, which included wedding cakes and several rental items.

One store, in McLean, Va., offers total catering of weddings, which includes planning, said one source familiar with the chain's program. "They will do cakes, party trays, floral arrangements, whatever," the source said.

An official at Giant Food, based here, declined to comment on the ads or the program.

Shoppers receive varying degrees of service from other Super G units, most of which are located in Maryland. There is one store in Hilltown, Pa., and another in Cherry Hill, N.J. Most units do offer cold-cut platters, party cakes and other party items.

Shoppers looking at Super G for their wedding needs can rent brass-plate twin kneeling benches, brass-plate adjustable candelabras, guest-register stands and brass-plate wedding arches. The listed rental items, which range from $25 to $30, require a $50 deposit, but more items are available in the catalogs at each store.

Flower-girl baskets are priced at $27.99, bridesmaid's bouquets are $45.99, and a bride's bouquet runs about $89.99.

Wedding cakes, described as "elegant tier cakes," are also available at $2.25 per serving. A four-tiered cake that serves between 90 and 125 people costs $281.25, and a four-tiered cake that serves 125 to 175 people costs $393.75, a source told SN.

Cakes are available for most special occasions and are made in-store, but the majority of wedding-cake production is done at the company's main bakery in Silver Spring, Md.

"Cakes are delivered within a 25-mile radius," a source said. And there is no flower delivery because of the freshness issues involved. Shoppers pick up floral orders at their nearest unit.

In an ad the following week, the same paper ran a full-page advertisement featuring a host of items for a prom, including a variety of corsages and "made-to-order" boutonnieres.

Corsages range from $6.99 for a double carnation corsage to $19.99 for a mixed flower corsage, made of seasonal flowers and three sweetheart roses. Shoppers can get boutonnieres or corsages in various colors, and, as the ad states, Super G will "even match your school colors."

While most of the products are offered year-round, the wedding and prom items are put on sale about this time of year, and, in the case of the wedding items, will remain at the sale price until June 28. Prom items will be on sale until June 7, according to the ad.

Shoppers have a choice of either going to the store directly or ordering their items, and at the bottom of the ads is a phone number, which connects to Giant's customer information service.

According to sources, Super G asks shoppers for a minimum of four days to place orders on prom items. Varying amounts of time are required for wedding items, said one source at the store level.

"For the platters, I'd say you only need a couple of days," the source said. "For flowers, you should give them a week."