Why Eastern Pennsylvanians Shop at Giant and Western Pennsylvanians Swear by Giant Eagle
Say “Giant” to a grocery shopper in Philadelphia and to one in Pittsburgh, and they’ll picture two different stores.
The names sound related, and that’s where a lot of the confusion starts.
Here’s why eastern Pennsylvanians shop at Giant and western Pennsylvanians swear by Giant Eagle.
Store Locations
Giant’s Pennsylvania store directory lists 169 stores, including 10 in Philadelphia alone and others in Allentown, Scranton, Harrisburg, Lancaster and State College.
If you live in Pittsburgh, you won’t find your city in Giant’s Pennsylvania store directory.
In April 2019, Giant ran 178 supermarkets across Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, according to Supermarket News.
Many shoppers in eastern Pennsylvania treat Giant as the store down the road, and many in western Pennsylvania say the same about Giant Eagle.
Kroger’s July 2026 announcement places Giant Eagle in western Pennsylvania, with 197 supermarkets and 11 standalone pharmacies across northern Ohio, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana.
Hometown Roots
Giant started in 1923 as a two-man butcher shop in Carlisle, and its headquarters is still there.
Carlisle describes itself as south-central Pennsylvania.
Giant Eagle, by comparison, is Cranberry-based and has dominated western Pennsylvania’s grocery market for decades, according to Axios Pittsburgh.
A drive from Carlisle to Cranberry Township takes you between the two chains’ headquarters.
Pittsburgh Market History
Giant Eagle’s roots go back to Eagle Grocery, which three families founded in 1918.
The founders expanded the chain rapidly, sold it to Kroger, then teamed with other partners to form Giant Eagle.
Kroger’s announcement dates Giant Eagle itself to 1931.
Kroger served the Pittsburgh market for decades before leaving it in the 1980s.
Rewards and Fuel
Giant took Choice Rewards chainwide in 2019 and Giant Eagle has myPerks, so the card in your wallet tends to follow the chain near your home.
Choice Rewards covered Giant and Martin’s stores from October 2019, and members earned one point for every dollar they spent.
Those points could go toward fuel or groceries.
Giant opened its first fuel station in 1998, and its 100th followed in 2012.
Giant Eagle’s myPerks program covered both its supermarkets and GetGo, the fuel and convenience business Giant Eagle sold in 2025.
Many Giant Eagle shoppers swear by their myPerks card.
Giant Eagle said myPerks would continue without interruption after the sale.
Psst! How much do you know about Pennsylvania’s grocery history? Take our quiz and see how many you can get right.
Quiz
Pennsylvania Grocery IQ
Answer these questions on Pennsylvania’s grocery chains, fuel stations and store history. We bet you can’t get them all right. Prove us wrong?
In August 2016, a grocery store in which Pittsburgh-area township became the first in Pennsylvania since Prohibition to sell wine?
Store Names
Even the store banners differ between the two chains.
Giant's Heirloom Market, an urban store format, had premiered in downtown Philadelphia by April 2019.
Giant Eagle's banners are Giant Eagle Supermarket, Giant Eagle Pharmacy and Market District, according to Pittsburgh station WPXI.
Giant also opened five former Shop 'n Save stores as Martin's Food Markets in April 2019, in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
Pharmacies appear under both names: Giant ran 132 of them in April 2019, and Kroger lists 11 standalone Giant Eagle pharmacies.
Market District
Market District stores are larger and more upscale than traditional Giant Eagle locations, WPXI reported in 2022.
That year, a Murrysville Giant Eagle was set to reopen as a Market District, the sixth in its region.
In November 2025, Giant Eagle opened its seventh specialty grocery in the Pittsburgh area, a Market District in East Liberty.
Parent Companies
Despite the shared word, Giant and Giant Eagle don't share a parent company.
Giant is a brand of Ahold Delhaize.
Giant Eagle was described as a family-owned grocery and pharmacy chain when Kroger announced its purchase in July 2026.
Company Size
Both chains are large employers.
Giant Eagle employs more than 30,000 workers and has about $9 billion in annual sales, according to Axios Pittsburgh.
In 2023, Giant said it had more than 35,000 team members.
The Kroger Deal
Cincinnati-based Kroger agreed to buy Giant Eagle in July 2026, and the sale is expected to close in 2027.
Giant isn't part of the deal, since Kroger's announcement covers Giant Eagle only and doesn't include Giant.
Both companies expect to sell a limited number of Giant Eagle stores to win regulatory clearance.
The sale would put Kroger back in the Pittsburgh market it left in the 1980s.
What Kroger's Price for Giant Eagle Includes
Kroger's price for Giant Eagle is $1.65 billion, and that total has two parts.
The first part is $1.25 billion in cash.
The other part, roughly $400 million, covers liabilities that Kroger takes on.
The sale also needs a federal antitrust waiting period to expire or end before it can close.
What Stays the Same
If you shop at Giant Eagle, the sale is expected to change the owner but not the sign.
Pittsburgh station WPXI reports that Giant Eagle's chief executive said the company will keep its name.
The Cranberry Township headquarters and current management team are expected to stay, too.
Kroger also plans to keep the myPerks program.
Overlap States
Giant's 2023 history and Kroger's 2026 announcement about Giant Eagle both list stores in Maryland and West Virginia.
So the split inside Pennsylvania isn't a clean line across the whole map.
Beyond Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia, Giant adds Virginia, and Giant Eagle adds Ohio and Indiana.
In 2023, Giant also served New Jersey online only.
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