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GIANT
Ahold USA operating companies
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research, Giant expanded its 'Fresh
Ideas/Great Values' marketing program
to include 'Focus on Fresh' within the
produce department, improving the
quality and value of products and their
presentation. Giant also introduced a
corporate web site (www.giantfood.com).
At the same time, the company identified
areas within its operations where it could
work more efficiently and effectively,
thus lowering costs and further growing
the business. Some of this progress was
gained in the first half of the year as
Giant-Landover took advantage of several
ongoing synergy benefits under the Ahold
USA umbrella. These impacted positively,
particularly in the second half of the
year. Additionally, advanced cost-control
systems, including the development and
implementation of productivity initiatives
within the company's store and distribu
tion operations, contributed to Giant's
performance.
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Many new synergy opportunities for Ahold
overall were gained through the expanded
use of Giant-Landover's support activities.
For example, Giant-Landover's pharmacy
warehouse, located in Baltimore, Maryland,
is now being used as a pharmaceutical
distribution center for all Ahold USA
companies.
Giant-Landover's transition process is
a prime example of Ahold doing what
it believes it does best: providing the
environment that makes good companies
better. In its first year under Ahold
ownership, Giant-Landover successfully
enhanced the value of its store brand.
The transition has been carefully docu
mented and can be rolled out during
future acquisition processes.
Giant-Carlisle
Giant Food Stores (Giant-Carlisle) had
another good year. Sales rose 0.4% to
USD 3.4 billion through 156 stores in six
states: Pennsylvania (74), New York (38),
New Jersey (31), Maryland (7), Virginia
(3) and West Virginia (3). The store port
folio consisted of 87 Giant stores and 69
Edwards stores.
The company introduced a number of
new merchandizing programs that boost
ed customer appreciation and bottom
line. These included implementing a cut
ting edge in-store category management
program as well as opening gasoline
stations in the parking lots of six stores.
In terms of e-commerce, Giant-Carlisle
developed a user-friendly website that is
popular with an increasing number of
customers.
The original Giant stores built on their
existing 'Every Day Low Price' strategy,
placing the emphasis firmly on freshness
and variety. Based on consumer research,
Edwards developed its pricing policy into
a 'total value' concept, boosting cus
tomer appreciation at the same time.
In the second half of the year, Giant
and Edwards held excellent promotional
campaigns. These outperformed the local
competition at Thanksgiving and during
the December holiday season in particu
lar. Customer count increased and Giant
excelled in providing a very broad range
of organically-produced product lines and
ethnic foods as part of a retail initiative
satisfying the needs of existing cus
tomers as well as drawing many new
ones. The company continued to grow
within and around New York City:
state-of-the-art supermarkets opened
in Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens.
Giant-Carlisle bui It-a new distribution
center for perishables, doubling to
361,000 sq.ft. the size of the existing
facility, and a new transportation center.
Three of its four satellite offices were
combined into a new office in Carlisle,
Pennsylvania, adjacent to the newly-
established Ahold Financial Services
complex.
Royal Ahold Annual Report 1999
19
