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Oct 13, 2023

New Giant supermarket opens on North Broad, bringing local goods and groceries to a fast

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A new Giant supermarket just opened on the corner of Spring Garden and North Broad, solidifying the area as one of the next residential hotspots in Philadelphia and marking an impressive spurt for the Carlise, Pa.-based grocery chain.

The 50,000-square-foot store is on the ground floor of LVL North, a 410-unit apartment complex from Alterra Property Group. And more residences are coming: it's across the street from the Mural West, a 30-story mixed-use tower from Precision Realty Group, and two blocks from Toll Brothers’ forthcoming 320-unit tower at Broad and Noble.

None of that was underway just four years ago when the first Giant opened in Philly. It was early 2019 when the Heirloom Market sub-brand made its nationwide debut in Graduate Hospital.

Now the company, which is a subsidiary of multinational corporation Ahold, operates nine Philadelphia locations. Among them are the huge bi-level classic in the Riverwalk and the Heirloom in the former Strawbridge's. There's at least one more on the way: the long-discussed Broad and Washington location is still planned, per spokesperson Laura Jacobs.

The newest on North Broad, which officially opened June 24, has a welcome mix of gourmet and basic goods, with plenty of hat tips to local custom.

There's a whole shelf of hoagie condiments, for example, and a display selling pasta, cheese, and olive oil by Italian Market favorite Claudio's. One entire deli rack is dedicated to scrapple and pork roll (or Taylor ham, both are there), while the seafood counter is stocked in part by South Jersey's Atlantic Capes Fisheries.

Specialty products are spread throughout the store, but they’re interspersed on the relatively spacious aisles with a wide variety of standard American grocery goods.

The supermarket floor is about three times the size of Aldi and Trader Joe's North Broad outposts, which bracket the Giant about a quarter-mile to its north and south, respectively. It's only slightly smaller than the Whole Foods flagship on Pennsylvania Avenue, two-thirds of a mile to the west, and similarly offers an attached parking garage. It's also right next to Spring Garden Station on the Broad Street Line subway.

This Giant lacks a juice bar, or a Federal Donuts outpost, or a pub where you can sit to enjoy beer on tap. But it does have a Starbucks, a fresh-made sushi counter, a custom butcher with dry-aged steaks, and a self-service checkout.

Scroll through the pics for more of what you’ll find if you go.

Produce ranges from the standard to the less usual. A whole rack devoted to tomatoes is next to one with lychee and dragon fruit.

A flower section greets you right inside the front door, and leads to the Starbucks.

The bakery section has an entire display devoted to pies.

There's a lot of grab-and-go food, from hoagies to house-smoked ribs.

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The huge "specialty cheese" section is in addition to a regular dairy section on the other side of the store.

Goods from local small businesses are given choice positioning.

Even in the freezer section — check out Talluto's fancy new packaging.

Wednesdays are the day to hit up the sushi counter, because specialty rolls are nearly half off: $5 each, instead of $8.50 and up.

Packaged meats are kept behind closed-door refrigerators instead of just cooled racks.

A large seafood counter is surrounded by other fish options, from smoked to salads to frozen.

There are at least two dozen options if you want bacon, and plenty of choice if you want a more local breakfast meat.

Some shelves offer Mexican and Latin American favorites like Fanta and Takis.

There's a large gluten-free bread and prepared food section.

Beer and wine are available with a separate checkout counter, as required by Pennsylvania law.

A large pharmacy and beauty supply section takes up several aisles.

Half of the checkout lanes are standard and fully staffed.

The other half are self-service.

There's a subway stop right outside.

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Danya Henninger is director of Billy Penn at WHYY, where she oversees the team, all editorial decisions, and all revenue generation — including the... More by Danya Henninger