Giant at Riverwalk reopens Saturday nearly a month after sustaining damage from Hurricane Ida
PHILADELPHIA - When the Center City Giant store was forced to close for a month due to water damage from Hurricane Ida, it was quite the inconvenience for residents in the area.
"It was terrible. It really was!" said nearby resident Carol Young.
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On Saturday, residents in and near Logan Square were relieved to find out that the Giant store was back open for business seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Paul Madarieta is the regional director of stores for Philadelphia for Giant, he said it was a massive effort to reopen the store.
"It was a huge team effort from every function of our business and even our sister brands were able to come in and help us as well. It was a concerted effort to get a ton of work done. A lot of third party partners as well like our construction teams etc…" said Madarieta.
The store has been closed for nearly a month now.
A month after sustaining flood damage from the remnants of Hurricane Ida, Giant grocery store at Riverwalk reopened to customers.
In that time, frequent shopper Carol Young says it was difficult to find other options.
"I’m so happy that they are back, really! I would have to go all the way to south Philadelphia for another supermarket and they are literally right across the street from where I live so it’s fantastic!" said Young.
Mom and daughter shopper duo Leila and Stephanie Feldman are also relieved the Giant is once again open for business.
"They have a lot more snacks. I am a tennis player and we have to bring snacks to the whole team and a lot of other places, unless you drive like all the way out to Costco, they don’t have it and this is pretty close to home," said Leila.
Stephanie Feldman says it's truly a great sign that a place like this can reopen.
"I think it’s a good sign because it means in particular with the buildings around here that there is clearly a sense that there will be more people living in this neighborhood and there is a value of having it here.
Paul Madarieta says feedback so far has been excellent.
"This area of the city is thriving. We love being here and customers love having us here. They’ve told us many times they just felt like they never really had a full shopping grocery store here so it’s exciting," said Madarieta.
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