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Big news coming out of our Camp Hill, Pa., store as we announced our partnership with The Berenstain Bears and the grand opening of our very first Berenstain Bears Treehouse! Mike Berenstain, second-generation author and illustrator of The Berenstain Bears series, joined the GIANT team at a special unveiling event, complete with a reading and book signing for local children, who were among the first to explore the new space. Brother Bear and Sister Bear also stopped by to celebrate! The Berenstain Bears were a natural fit for us as we began to reimagine this area within our flagship store because for more than 50 years, they've been supporting families and communities through their books. We’re excited to offer this special space to the families we serve and make trips to the grocery store more fun for our young customers!
Not all heroes wear capes; sometimes, they make them! To help ease the fears of kids visiting the emergency room during their visit, yesterday more than 30 of our team members visited Janet Weis Children’s Hospital in Danville, Pa. to make special courage capes. In a little over five hours, our team created 400 courage capes, decorating colored t-shirts with fun images and inspiring words like courage, bravery, and strength. When kids arrive at the pediatric emergency department, they can choose their favorite cape to wear for a little extra courage during their stay. Thanks to all of our team members who volunteered their time and talent to make trips to the hospital a little less scary for kids!
Just in time for the holidays, today we opened the doors to our new 74,000 square foot store in Broomall, Pennsylvania! Offering a one-of-a-kind shopping experience that includes a fresh bar with gourmet coffee and smoothies, dry-aged beef and smoked meats, a fresh mozzarella station and so much more, this store is a testament to our team’s passion for innovation and our customers. After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Store Manager Scott Grygo and his team welcomed a long line of excited customers inside – with a little help from Philadelphia’s beloved Mummers and 76ers Mascot Franklin the Dog – and presented $1,000 donations to five of our nonprofit partners. It was a fantastic way to spend a morning and a truly fitting celebration for our 17th store opening this year!
We celebrated #GivingTuesday by volunteering alongside four of our nonprofit partners and surprising them with $5,000 donations: the Rachel Way Gluten & Dairy Free Food Pantry in Plymouth Meeting, Pa., the Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley Food Pantry in Bethlehem, Pa., the Warren County Backpack Program in Front Royal, Va., and the Mountain Lion Backpack Program in Altoona, Pa. We're so inspired by the incredible work these organizations are doing to eliminate hunger in their communities. It was our honor to give back to them today for all they give throughout the year.
Drug Store News recently held its first-ever Top Women in Health, Wellness and Beauty Awards in Chicago, shining a light on women who are making a difference in retail. Congratulations to all of the honorees recognized at the event, especially our Manager of Beauty and Baby Kristin Frantz, Regional Pharmacy Manager Grace Fisher, Manager of Health and Wellness Emily Steinkamp and Director of Pharmacy Leigh Shirley.
We have so much to be thankful for this year, and at the top of our list, our amazing team. We’re so grateful for each of our more than 32,000 team members and all they do to support our customers and communities throughout the year. Happy Thanksgiving!
Leading. Inspiring. Networking. Connecting. That’s what GIANT’S Business Resource Group, Women’s LINC, is all about. Hundreds of team members from across our organization gathered at the company’s 9th Annual Women’s Leadership Conference. Attendees heard from guest speakers on a range of topics related to lifting up and supporting the growth and development of females in the workplace. Complete with a photo booth, it was an informative, inspiring and fun way to honor our commitment to diversity and inclusion.
And the winner is…..GIANT Choice Rewards! Last week at the 2019 Loyalty360 Customer Expo in Indianapolis, our new rewards program brought home THREE first place awards! This includes two Best in Class Awards selected by Loyalty360 editorial staff and a Platinum Customer Centric Culture Award decided by our loyalty industry peers. Needless to say, it was a proud moment for GIANT Choice Rewards! Visit http://glassdoor.com/slink.htm?key=vMDEb to read more about the Expo and awards. An award-winning program would not be possible without the efforts of our best-in-class loyalty team, led by our director of loyalty and shopper marketing Emily Mikus and manager of loyalty marketing Jessica Printy Groves. Customer loyalty is a key measure of brand health and these women and their team have worked hard to develop a program that shows customers are at the heart of all we do at GIANT. Congrats to Emily, Jessica and our entire loyalty team for bringing GIANT Choice Rewards to life and establishing the program as a leader in the loyalty industry!
The community of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania has waited a long time for a GIANT to call their own. Just in time for Thanksgiving, we celebrated the grand opening of our newest store, full of fresh ideas, meal solutions and conveniences like beer and wine and curbside grocery pick up through GIANT DIRECT, all of which make life a little easier. This store is a picture perfect example of our commitment to our customers and their families, whenever and however they want to shop. Congratulations to our new store manager Sabita Singh, District Director Bill Bruderer and the entire East Stroudsburg team!
Our annual turkey donation is something our team members look forward to all year long, but it’s more than a tradition for GIANT – it’s a way for us to help ensure families facing food insecurity can gather around the table and enjoy a warm holiday meal. Earlier this week, in advance of Thanksgiving, we donated 7,000 turkeys to 13 of our partner food banks. Our team members also spent the day volunteering at each food bank to prepare for the holidays – because now and all year long, giving back really is the best part of what we do.
