Giant Food - A History of Low Prices and Quality

Giant Food is one of the best supermarkets in America. It provides customers with various online shopping options and weekly ads, including coupons. Giant Food also offers delivery services with Peapod, which makes it even easier for shoppers to save money.

In 1998, Giant Food pulled back on expansion and focused on improving its same-store sales, a key retail metric. The company also consolidated its administrative functions into the sister chain Stop & Shop Supermarket Company LLC.

Founded in 1936

Initially, Giant food stores were large markets that offered various products at low prices. This was a great advantage during the Depression when many people had limited incomes and were desperate for Food. Founders Nehemiah Meir Cohen and Samuel Lehrman took a risk when they opened their first store in Washington, DC, on Feb. 6, 1936. They realized their success depended on offering customers a large selection at low prices and friendly service.

The company’s operating philosophy sought a price advantage by keeping its operations vertically integrated. In addition to having its slaughterhouse, Giant also operated its bakery, ice cream plant, and warehouses, which allowed it to keep costs down and make quick decisions. The strategy paid off for the company, which expanded throughout Maryland and Virginia.

By the 1950s, Giant was one of the largest grocery chains in the area and grew rapidly. It expanded into the suburbs and opened a number of stores in Virginia, too. It even built its first combination food store and drugstore. In addition, the chain started to develop its private label of items and began selling plastic housewares, specialty foods, and other items in response to customer demand. In 1961, the company became a publicly traded corporation. Cohen, who remained president until 1964, served as chairman until 1977. He continued to emphasize the importance of quality, value, and service in his management style.

During the turbulent years of the 1960s, the company faced challenges. Although it had long been criticized for bypassing predominantly black neighborhoods, the chain did begin to open some stores in inner-city neighborhoods after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. However, the company needed help to stay competitive in the face of unrelenting competition from chain stores like Stop & Shop and Giant’s freestanding drugstores.

Despite these setbacks, Giant’s emphasis on quality, value, and service helped it hold its position in the market. In recent years, the company has continued to invest in its business and has launched a new loyalty program that has already saved customers $20 million. In addition, Giant has begun to give back to the community, including sponsoring local schools and donating to food banks.

Founded by rabbi Nehemiah Meir Cohen

Rabbi Nehemiah Meir Cohen and Samuel Lehrman founded Giant Food, the oldest supermarket chain in Washington, DC. The company has 170 stores, most of which contain full-service pharmacies. Its success has been attributed to its emphasis on low prices and high quality and its founders’ philosophy of caring for customers. Founder Cohen often quoted Jewish injunctions that emphasized the importance of accurate weights and measures in business and always treated his employees respectfully. The company also cited its adherence to biblical injunctions to “love your neighbor.”

In the 1960s, Giant started opening more locations in inner-city black neighborhoods. Although criticized for bypassing these areas, the company remained open during the riots that followed Martin Luther King’s assassination. Store managers and workers stayed calm and held up against angry mobs. Giant’s president, Joseph Danzansky, directed a food drive to supply demonstrators in “Resurrection City.”

The founders’ children continued their parents’ philanthropic traditions, and the Giant Family Foundation has distributed more than $80 million to local charities and organizations. The Foundation has supported numerous community projects, including a homeless shelter and youth groups. It has also provided scholarships to students seeking careers in food management. In 2005, the company expanded its private-label line to include organic products. It also partnered with office supplies superstore Staples to add Staples departments to its 550 supermarkets.

As the population in Maryland and Virginia suburbs grew in later years, Giant Food opened scores of new stores. The founders’ shrewdness and business instinct made them leaders in their market. They were said to be able to walk into a failing store and “smell” the problem where teams of experts could not.

The founders were proud of their heritage, and the company remained loyal to its Jewish roots. 1978, the founders endorsed the State of Israel and donated $20,000 to the country’s first public television station. They were also staunch supporters of the Adas Israel congregation and benefactors of several educational institutions in Washington. Their daughter, Lillian Cohen Solomon, served as the Foundation’s president from the mid-1980s until she died in 2001.

Founded by Samuel Lehrman

In the 1950s, Giant Food initiated a scholarship program to encourage students to pursue food management careers. Two of the first five recipients became senior vice presidents at the company. Giant has also taken a leading role in community service. It provided Food to demonstrators camped in “Resurrection City” in Washington during a two-week protest to call attention to poverty in America. The company also directed a food drive, in which local and national businesses supplied demonstrators with Food.

In 1956, Giant opened its first store in Virginia and in 1958, introduced the Super Giant department stores. At the same time, the company established Giant Construction Co. to build its stores and GFS Reality to handle site sales and leasing. It also consolidated its distribution center in Landover, Maryland.

The company’s founders understood that the public was clamoring for lower prices. They realized that the only way to do this was to replace high markups with higher volume, a revolutionary approach at the time. While there were many skeptics, the system worked and Giant became the number one supermarket chain in the area.

Founded in 1936, Giant Food LLC currently operates approximately 190 supermarkets in Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware, as well as in the District of Columbia. Its stores are, on average, 55,000 square feet in size, and most have in-store full-service pharmacies. In addition, many stores have entertainment centers featuring books, magazines, and DVDs; Chevy Chase Bank branches, Staples office supply departments; and Starbucks coffee bars.

A new study by a retail analyst shows that supermarket theft has increased significantly since the Coronavirus pandemic. In response, some stores have hired more security and have begun closing alternate entrances and locking up products. But even with these measures, the theft cost is estimated to be tens of millions of dollars.

FOX 5 contacted Sam Lehrman, who co-founded the Giant supermarket chain with his wife Susan and headed the real estate development firm Lehrco Corporation. He didn’t respond to our request for comment. However, friends tell us that he and Susan want a divorce. They have a prenuptial agreement that is reportedly clean and concise.

Founded by Israel “Izzy” Cohen

The first Giant Food store opened in Washington during a snowstorm in 1936. It was the first supermarket to offer various products at low prices, making it popular with cash-strapped Depression Era consumers. The founders were rabbis, and their son Israel “Izzy” Cohen built the company into a major grocery chain. Cohen was an innovative grocer, opening a chain of pharmacies and introducing private-label items such as plastic housewares. He also focused on vertical integration, building a company-owned ice cream and soda bottling plants.

During his reign, the company expanded to include more than 50 stores in Maryland and Virginia. Cohen was also a generous philanthropist, supporting the arts and local communities. Despite being criticized for bypassing inner-city black neighborhoods, Giant began opening stores in those areas by the mid-1960s.

In 1964, Cohen stepped down as president and became chairman of the board; Joseph Danzansky succeeded him as president of Giant. Cohen’s family retained controlling interest in the company, with his son Israel serving as president and CEO and his daughter Lillian Cohen Solomon as board chairman. The two families held 50 percent of the voting stock.

After Cohen died in 1995 at age 83, speculation abounded that J Sainsbury PLC, Britain’s largest supermarket operator, would try to buy his share of the company. However, Cohen’s will set up his claims in a corporation named 1224 Corp., whose name was derived from numerals that spell Izzy when handwritten. His sister and four longtime Giant executives, including Peter Manos, who succeeded Cohen as chairman, are on the board of directors and have the power to sell his stake in the company.

Giant officials are optimistic about the company’s future, citing strong customer loyalty and a renewed focus on community. The company has also launched a new gas rewards program with Shell stations in Washington, hoping to save customers $20 million this year alone. The company also increases store security to address crimes like robberies and stabbings. In addition, it has begun closing alternate entrances to some stores and locking up certain products to address theft.