We're now back in the northeastern corner of the state of Pennsylvania, for the southern part of the Wyoming Valley! The valley roughly stretches 30 miles southwest to northeast, with Wilkes-Barre in the southwestern part of the valley and Scranton in the northeastern corner. We're going to look at the area around Wilkes-Barre first, starting in Mountain Top (which, yes as you can assume, is not actually in the valley) and then through Nanticoke, Plymouth, Wilkes-Barre itself, Luzerne, Plains, Pittston, and Duryea. GIANT and Weis are the two big chains present in this area, although regional favorite Gerrity's is present too, as well as quite a few independents and former supermarkets that we'll be checking out! Tomorrow is our first store in Mountain Top on The Independent Edition!
As for the Wyoming Valley itself, I'd have to argue Giant isn't one of the stronger contenders in the area - Price Chopper/Market 32 and Weis are probably the big two chains in the area (alongside Gerrity's), as Giant is limited to those two stores in far northern Scranton, and their only Luzerne County store is in Hazleton. Giant has never operated any stores in Wilkes-Barre or its surrounding suburbs, most likely due to the presence of the (now defunct) Giant ShurSave chain that operated in the Wyoming Valley until the late 1990's. I'm surprised Giant hasn't tried to open a store in Wilkes-Barre proper since, but maybe the area is just too competitive these days to warrant trying?
ReplyDeleteSurprising they didn't even then, like they did elsewhere using the Martin's name to avoid confusion with others using Giant (in that case, their now sister chain before they were co-owned).
DeleteAFB, you are correct. You know this area better than I do. Thanks!
DeleteYou're welcome! I've spent a lot of time in the Wyoming Valley, so I know this area (and its grocery stores) pretty well!
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