Giant Previews New South Philly Supermarket Days After Announcing Closure Of Center City Location

A grocery colossus has revealed plans for a new store in South Philadelphia days after it confirmed it would shutter a high-profile location in nearby Center City.

Giant Food's outpost at 1001-29 South Broad St. will open on Dec. 13, according to a press release. The 40K SF new location is slated for the corner of Broad Street and Washington Avenue, an old industrial corridor that’s seen significant multifamily redevelopment in recent years, including Post Brothers’ new One Thousand One complex.

The Giant and the apartments will sit on the site of a formerly vacant lot. It sits across the street from a Sprouts Farmers Market and a Target. The new store is expected to create more than 100 part- and full-time jobs.

“Just in time for the holidays, Philadelphia’s newest GIANT has everything customers need to celebrate,” Johnathan Heron, who will manage the location, said in a statement.

The soon-to-be-defunct Center City store is located on the corner of Eighth Street and the long-struggling East Market Street corridor.

“Unfortunately, this store has not performed to our expectations, and when coupled with the challenges we and others have faced in the neighborhood, it no longer makes sense to continue operating at this location,” Giant President John Ruane told the Philadelphia Inquirer last week. He characterized the move as a “business decision.”

When the store opened in December 2021, it was seen as a positive omen for East Market’s postpandemic recovery.

The store was located less than a block from PREIT’s Fashion District mall. Philadelphia City Council is currently considering a plan that would demolish a third of the shopping center so the Philadelphia 76ers can build a new arena there.

The proposal has been highly controversial due in part to concerns about gentrification in nearby Chinatown. Some locals are also worried that the arena would snarl traffic in Center City and put additional strain on the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority, which is currently facing grave budget issues.

Giant opened its first Philadelphia store in 2011 and now operates eight in the city and several more in the surrounding suburbs.