Giant Eagle was founded in 1918 as Eagle Grocery by 3 families: Porter, Chait and Goldstein/Shapira.
In 1928, they sell the company to Kroger.
In 1931, after their non-compete had elapsed, those 3 families joined the Moravitz and Weizenbaum families to form Giant Eagle.
The company grew steadily in the 30’s and 40’s, despite the Great Depression.
The company expanded to Ohio in the 1980s with the acquisition of Youngstown based Tamarkin.
In 1991, the Giant Eagle Advantage Card is introduced.
In 2000, the company enters the Columbus, Ohio market. They expand to Toledo the following year.
By 2008, the company had 23 stores in the Columbus market.
The company is the 49th largest retailer in the US, with annual revenue in 2011 of $9.3 billion and 36,000 full-time employees.
In 2017, the company rolled out a trial program called Food & Wine Friday’s, where shoppers would purchase a wine glass and get free wine and food samples on Friday’s.
Today, Giant Eagle operates 417 stores in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland. They also operate 168 GetGo gas stations.
