Shoppers hope Kroger makes good on promise to keep Giant Eagle brand

The Giant Eagle and Market District names are expected to stick around.

By MEGAN SWIFT
TribLive

Deena Alansky has shopped at Giant Eagle for more than 40 years, so news of Kroger’s planned acquisition of the local grocery chain left her with plenty of questions.

“I’m just wondering what the future holds,” she told TribLive on Wednesday outside Giant Eagle’s Murray Avenue store in Squirrel Hill.

Cincinnati-based Kroger announced Wednesday morning it would buy all of Giant Eagle’s 197 stores and standalone pharmacies for $1.65 billion.

Giant Eagle CEO Bill Artman told TribLive that customers should expect the Giant Eagle and Market District names to stick around, as well as the store employees they’ve come to know.

Alansky, 65, of East McKeesport, supports keeping the names to “keep honoring the system that’s in place.”

“I hope the employees get to keep their jobs,” she said. “I hope the prices don’t go up.”

Earl Bahn was shopping in Giant Eagle’s produce section Wednesday off Camp Horne Road in Ohio Township just hours after the acquisition was announced.

He believes the news is good for those with stakes in the company — and that the change won’t stop Pittsburghers from shopping at Giant Eagle.

“If they heard that Kroger acquired them in whole or in part, that’ll just settle in — they’ll forget about it, and they’ll continue to say, ‘I’m going to the Giant Eagle, honey, what do you need me to get while I’m there?’” said Bahn, 74, of Ben Avon. “Which I just did in the parking lot before I came in.”

Giant Eagle is “a great name,” Bahn said.

“I would guess it’s not gonna have a big effect after 10 days, two weeks,” he said. “Congratulations to the people who sold; I hope they got a good deal.”

Marlene Edenhart, however, didn’t welcome the news. She’s always preferred shopping at small stores over chains.

Still, Giant Eagle has always been a staple for her.

“I’m sure that people will still visit here,” said Edenhart, 84, of Avalon, as she said it’s convenient. “They’re in the area, so we will still come.”

She was shocked to hear of Kroger’s acquisition Wednesday, but she believes it’s a good move to keep “Giant Eagle” branding instead of switching to Kroger.

“Because that’s a household name,” Edenhart said. “I mean, we grew up with Giant Eagle.

“I like shopping in here, so I’ll come back no matter what it’s called.”

Personal stakes

Bob Colella has worked as a cart attendant for around 16 years at the Giant Eagle on Murray Avenue in Squirrel Hill.

“I was surprised,” he said, when he heard the news. “I knew Kroger was older — they were a good store when I was a kid shopping (there).”

Colella, 86, of Wilmerding, was raised in Squirrel Hill and lived nearby the Kroger that used to be on Murray.

“Of course, (Kroger had) been in Pittsburgh years ago,” he said. “They were a big name.”

Colella’s main question surrounds pension and retirement options. He’s wondering if Kroger has a different retirement plan that might be better than Giant Eagle’s, will workers’ plans at Giant Eagle be updated to reflect that?

As of Wednesday, Colella said he hadn’t heard any information from his bosses regarding next steps or how the acquisition could affect employees.

“They were decent to me all this time,” he said of his work experience at Giant Eagle.

Artman told TribLive he does not anticipate the deal will impact front-line workers, and he added there are no plans for major change to the corporate office in Cranberry.