New Giant Eagle has grand opening
By Ben Saylor
Lakewood
Published Dec. 20, 2006

Edgar Sullivan of the Salvation Army. (Photo by Larry Bennet)

The grand opening of the first of 15 new Giant Eagle supermarkets took place Thursday morning.

The first new store is located in the vacated Tops facility at 14100 Detroit Ave., directly across the street from what was formerly a Giant Eagle supermarket.

Many representatives from Giant Eagle were on hand for the event, as were Cleveland mascots Slider and CB, as well as Eagle, the company mascot.

Bill Artman, regional vice president of the Cleveland Operating Division for Giant Eagle, said in a press release that by acquiring these stores, the company “will preserve approximately 2,300 good paying supermarket jobs in the northeast Ohio area.”  Artman added that “Almost all of the approximately 1,500 recent hires were former Tops associates.”

Dan Shapira, chief legal counsel for Giant Eagle, praised the efforts of the Local 880 United Food and Commercial Workers union, which represents both Giant Eagle and Tops employees. Shapira said that without the “close working relationship” of Giant Eagle and the union, the acquisition deal would have been “virtually impossible.”

Bob Grauvogl, the secretary-treasurer of the Local 880, said “This is a great day for Lakewood,” and praised Giant Eagle for the attention paid to the former Tops employees in terms of protecting their wages and benefits.

Anthony Rego, vice chairman for Giant Eagle, singled out the various philanthropic efforts undertaken by the company on behalf of organizations like the Salvation Army, the Cleveland Food Bank, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, the Race for the Cure and many more. Two computers and printers were also presented to the Lakewood school system as part of Giant Eagle’s “Apples For The Students” program.

The other new Giant Eagle stores will continue to open through Feb. 1. The next West Shore location will be Fairview Park, on 21593 Lorain Rd., which is scheduled to open Jan. 18. Of the 19 Tops markets acquired by Giant Eagle, 15 will operate under the Giant Eagle name, while four will become Dave’s Supermarkets with Giant Eagle pharmacies operating inside the stores.

The North Olmsted Tops location was not one of the acquired stores. Giant Eagle Director of Marketing and Corporate Communications Rob Borella said the company is “looking for prospective tenants” for the vacated Detroit Road Giant Eagle location in Lakewood.