A Lehigh County warehouse is among five to be closed by The Giant Company as part of a reorganization plan for the supermarket chain.
Salisbury, North Carolina-based Ahold Delhaize USA, the supermarket’s parent company, announced plans to downsize earlier this month. The Giant Company was formerly known as Giant Food Stores.
The warehouses to be closed are in Coopersburg, Philadelphia, Lancaster, Willow Grove in Montgomery County and North Coventry Township in Chester County. Additionally, Giant is closing its centralized e-commerce fulfillment operation facility in Manassas, Virginia.
All the fulfillment centers are expected to be closed by the end of April 2026, Giant spokeswoman Ashley Flower told lehighvalleylive.com.
Over 200 jobs are on the chopping block at the Philadelphia and Lancaster locations. The confirmed number of employees impacted was announced this month in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act Notice filed with the state department.
The notice is mandated by U.S. labor law. It requires companies with 100 or more employees to provide 60 days’ advance notification of plant closings and mass layoffs.
As of Tuesday morning, no notices were filed for the three other statewide locations. Flower said over 100 employees at the Coopersburg location are being offered positions elsewhere in the company.
Ahold Delhaize USA stated in its announcement it wants to revamp Giant’s home delivery system.
“We’ve learned over the past few years that there isn’t a one size fits all approach to our e-commerce business, particularly our fulfillment model. With customers expecting faster delivery, we need to ensure we are operating as efficiently as possible to meet their ever-changing needs,” Flower told lehighvalleylive.com.
“Over the past several years, Ahold Delhaize USA companies have transitioned to a local, store-first fulfillment network to offer greater customer availability at faster speeds.”
Flower said Giant Direct orders will now be assembled by store employees and delivered by a third-party provider, such as DoorDash.
Using this approach, each of the U.S. brands is best positioned to deliver on customers’ expectations for pick-up and delivery options in as little as 30 minutes where possible, Ahold Delhaize USA said.
Flower touted other benefits of the new plan, including an expanded assortment and in-store pricing. She said patrons will be able to change their orders two to three hours before a delivery versus the four- to six-hour previous timeframe.
Giant has over a dozen locations in the Lehigh Valley. The newest Giant was recently built at the South Mall in Salisbury Township.