Giant Food

Giant Food was founded on February 6, 1936, by Nehemiah Meir "N.M." Cohen — a kosher butcher who had immigrated from Eastern Europe — and Samuel Lehrman, who provided the capital to launch the business. Their first store opened as Giant Food Shopping Center in Washington, D.C., during the Great Depression, and the chain grew rapidly through the post-war era by strategically locating in the automobile-oriented shopping centers that were reshaping American retail. Giant Food pioneered several grocery innovations over the decades, including one of the first in-store pharmacy combinations in 1962 and one of the earliest chain-wide implementations of price-scanning technology in 1979. N.M. Cohen remained active in the company until he was 90, passing away in 1995. Three years later, Royal Ahold acquired the company, making it a sister chain to Giant Food Stores of Pennsylvania — both now owned by Ahold Delhaize. Today, Giant Food (sometimes called Giant-Landover to distinguish it from its Pennsylvania sibling) operates stores across Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and Washington D.C., headquartered in Landover, Maryland.