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TOUR: GIANT Food Stores - Hellertown, PA

GIANT Food Stores
Opened: 2002
Previous Tenants: unsure
Location: 1880 Leithsville Rd, Hellertown, PA
Photographed: Late 2018 and January 12, 2019
Contributor: Lucas from Grocery Voice
Welcome to the Hellertown GIANT! Lucas from Grocery Voice brings us pictures of this store during its most recent renovation and once the renovation was completed. Unlike the other stores Lucas has contributed, I've actually been to this store twice but never photographed it. Both times were before this latest renovation. I have to say that I think the store looked much better before, but it's definitely brighter and more modern-looking these days. The 54,000 square foot store feels larger than it is, likely because of how spacious it is and how high the ceiling is.
If there's one thing that can be said about the renovation, it's that the stores are... white. Very, very white. I think that's something that's been drastically improved for the later renovations.
Remember that what we're seeing is the store in the middle of its renovations, so you'll notice department signage is not fully installed yet, and the aisle markers haven't been changed, among other things in-progress.
But you can see what I mean about how white (completely bland) the store interiors are.
The store has a standard GIANT layout, with produce on the right side, meat/seafood on the back wall, with deli in the back right corner, dairy/frozen on the left side, and bakery in the front left corner.
Here we see the older aisle markers that have yet to be replaced.
Lucas took this first round of photos in late 2018, then returned in January 2019 to show the finished renovation.
I won't say the store is unattractive, since it's definitely not. There's just nothing going for the design here. I like the wood floor, but that's left over from a past decor package.
And the lighting is good, too, if not that exciting.
At the very least, the department signage is easy to read. But there's not much on the wall, although admittedly this is even less than usual because the remodel wasn't done yet.
And the bakery department had been modified the least, with basically just the old signage removed...
And next to the bakery is the front end, beginning with these self-checkout registers.
Here's a look across the front-end back towards the produce aisle.
And now for the 2019 photos after the renovation. Lucas returned to the store to document the decor fully installed, although in my opinion not much changed...
We do see a little more color on the walls with some of the promotional signage here, but still not the most exciting.
I will say that I think this decor package works better in these more modern-looking stores than some of the much older Stop & Shops.
And I think it ties in well with the promotional signage, like the Save banners here.
We missed it the first time around, but here's a look at the deli and prepared foods area in the back right corner of the store. I remember this store having a much better prepared foods selection than the Stop & Shop stores in my area, and I believe this was my first GIANT I'd been to.
Here's a good overview of the back wall of the store. Again, I like the wood floor and I think that actually matches the new decor quite well.
It's just so plain, though. There's absolutely nothing eye-catching about it.
And it looks like the aisle markers hadn't been replaced by this point either, so maybe they never were.
This is a very pleasant store, although to be fair both times I was here was late at night so I was the only one in the store practically!
Service meat and seafood, which is of course a rarity in the Stop & Shop stores.
Note the blue aisle markers for the HABA aisles. 
In the areas without the wood signage or focused lighting, the store really has a much lower-end, almost no-frills discount store-like environment, which I don't think is bad but is just not what this store actually is.
This signage and department especially looks really low-end, which again is not a problem but just not what they're going for, as far as I can tell. Or are they trying to position themselves as a lower-end choice to the higher-end Weis, which consistently has more deluxe decor in their stores?
One more shot of the back wall before we move along. This is a nice overview of the deli-prepared foods area looking back towards produce.
Even these signs are more basic than the Stop & Shop ones, since they exclude the fruitbowl symbol found in the equivalent Stop & Shop remodels.
Here's a look at the pharmacy in the front corner next to bakery.
And that is all for the Hellertown GIANT! Thanks again to Lucas for these photos from the last few days. Tomorrow we're headed towards Bethlehem with a look at a former supermarket just south of the city on Grocery Archaeology!

Comments

  1. I appreciate Lucas sharing these photos.

    I am guessing that this Giant is responsible for killing the Super Fresh-turned-Pathmark on Route 378 in Bethlehem. That Super Fresh was 47,000 square-feet in size and opened on December 5, 1998 as a replacement for a Centennial supermarket in Hellertown. The Route 378 store became a Pathmark in March or April of 2009 and closed on or around April 15, 2011, during A&P's first bankruptcy.

    In my opinion, this Giant has an unattractive exterior and a terrible looking interior. Exposed ceilings are tolerable if a supermarket has an amazing decor package, but this supermarket's decor is very bland. There is way too much white, and the whole store feels sterile and uninviting.

    Earlier, I referenced the Centennial A&P-turned-Super Fresh in Hellertown which was replaced by the Route 378 store. I do not know if Zachary had a chance to visit that old building (which is currently occupied by a True Value and a Dollar General), but I have such fond memories from my early childhood of that Super Fresh. Hellertown also had an IGA supermarket (Dan's IGA), which sadly was destroyed by fire on October 7, 1996. Josh (on Flickr) informed me that the IGA was originally an Acme. Although I do not have the time right now, I hope to share some more information about the Centennial A&P-turned-Super Fresh and the Acme-turned-IGA.

    --A&P Fan

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    1. Thanks for the thoughts and history! I did not get to visit the one you're talking about but I know exactly where it is. I have eaten at the Hellertown Diner in the parking lot!

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    2. Zachary, I am glad that you had a chance to stop at the Hellertown Diner get a glimpse of the shopping center that I was referring to. Here is a link to some more photos of that Centennial A&P-turned-Super Fresh which Flickr user Dan Asnis uploaded in 2021:

      https://www.flickr.com/photos/31660989@N05/51315236662/in/photostream/

      FYI, historic aerial views show that a few additions occurred over the years in the area surrounding that parking lot. The first was actually a tiny expansion to the A&P shopping center which happened in 1971 or 1972. Then sometime between 1972 and 1981, there was a smaller strip of stores built which were perpendicular to the A&P center and that shared the same parking lot. I seem to recall a Carvel ice cream shop being one of the tenants of that smaller strip of stores. There was also a Fotomat kiosk in that parking lot, although it may have been as old as the Hellertown A&P. Additionally, there was a bank in the parking lot (which also may have been there since the A&P opened); that building is still there, though it has housed a Starbucks since April 29, 2022.

      The Hellertown Diner was definitely not there when I lived in Lower Saucon Township. That was yet another new building which began life as a Burger King in April 1997. The Burger King closed and the Saucon Valley Diner opened no later than October 2006. (I am assuming that the Burger King building was not demolished and replaced with a new building, although I could be mistaken.) The Saucon Valley Diner was sold in 2009, and the new owners changed the name to the Hellertown Diner.

      Across the street from the former A&P is a McDonald's, which did in fact open when I lived in Lower Saucon Township. The Hellertown McDonald's opened on or around June 24, 1982 and sported a beautiful mansard roof. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, that building's facade was completed overhauled between October 2018 and November 2019.

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    3. There were two confusing sentences in my above post (caused by careless errors on my part) that I would like to correct. The very first sentence should read: "Zachary, I am glad that you had a chance to stop at the Hellertown Diner and that you caught a glimpse of the shopping center that I was referring to." And the very last sentence should read "Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, that building's facade was completely overhauled between October 2018 and November 2019."

      Sorry for the confusion.

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    4. Thanks for all the history here!

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  2. The vast majority of Stop & Shop stores in CT and NY (Hudson Valley region) have full seafood counters. I know they haven’t done many remodels in NJ and areas of MA, and those older stores often don’t have a full counter, but all the remodeled stores I’ve been to have seafood. They’ve been adding in full seafood counters when they remodel stores that didn’t have it in the past. Here in CT, only 5 stores don’t have a seafood dept, all the others have a full seafood counter. In the Hudson Valley NY area, 4 stores don’t have a seafood counter, the rest do. It seems their older NJ stores don’t perform as well sales-wise so that’s probably why they don’t have full seafood counters - low sales and thus not much turnover and demand for the product.

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    1. Thanks for the additional details! I agree with you and that all seems logical.

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