There's a new Giant/Wegman's in town

Tonight I took a drive up Route 15 to the new super-duper Giant Food Store in Camp Hill. First up front, you need to know that I’m not a Giant guy, so this entry won’t be chock-full of platitudes.

So basically, what you do, is you take your normal Giant, and you add some gourmet-type stuff. They have this nice Bucks County Coffee Shop that has everything you beanie babies need. But WAIT! They also serve bowls of cereal, toasted bagels, and waffles. And not those waffles from the frozen section. Freshly-made waffles on the griddle in front of you. Moving to your right, you have trendy dining area complete with free WI-FI. Continuing to your right, you have the cooking school, the hot grill, the sandwich place, the hot buffet, the Panda Express, the salad bar, the cheese shoppe, and then you have the rest of your normal Giant. Besides the aforementioned items, the other new and different feature was the organic foods section. Lots of stuff for the organic crowd, including pasta, peanut butter and even ice cream. And interestingly enough, right next to the organic section was the bulk food section, which featured candy, nuts, granola and grains.

It’s a nice place, but it’s still kinda pricey, even compared to Weis. But people will like it a lot and will shop there. And if I want some more strawberry/raspberry granola, I’ll be back too. Or the free WI-FI.

I was going to take some photos, but Sara Bozich did it for me.

The word on the street is that Wegman's is coming to Mechanicsburg sometime in 2006. My hunch is this store is a way for Giant to secure it's place in the market before Wegman's gets here. Then once Wegman's arrives, the people will go check it out and say "this is just like the Giant in Camp Hill." When in fact, the Giant in Camp Hill is like your average Wegman's store. Tricky. Very tricky.