CONVENIENCE STORE Giant Eagle opens GetGo in Canfield

A new store offers sandwiches and salads for drivers fueling up.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
CANFIELD -- Giant Eagle has brought its latest retailing concept to the Mahoning Valley with the opening of a GetGo convenience store.
The store, which is in front of its supermarket at 375 E. Main St., offers gas and convenience items such as sandwiches, salads, pepperoni rolls and baked goods.
The 1,800-square-foot store opened last weekend, but grand-opening events are slated for Sunday.
This is Giant Eagle's first full-fledged convenience store in the Mahoning Valley, and the only one that has been announced for the area, said Rob Borella, a spokesman for the Pittsburgh-based grocery chain.
Other stores
Others, however, are slated to open this summer at 2365 E. State St., Hermitage, and 3230 Wilmington Road, New Castle. The Hermitage store will be the same size as Canfield's, and the New Castle store will be smaller. New Castle has two other GetGo stores.
Giant Eagle has a gas station at its Liberty store, but that location doesn't have a store that customers can enter. An employee inside a kiosk sells items such as candy and cigarettes.
Historically, convenience stores have sold such items and have been geared toward men, Borella said. Giant Eagle wants to attract more customers by offering sandwiches prepared daily and other fresh food, he said.
"This will be a convenience store that will take women shoppers into account as well," he said.
The Canfield store also has eight gas pumps, an ATM and hot and cold beverages.
Borella said the Canfield location was selected for a GetGo because it had land available and Giant Eagle determined there was enough customer demand and volume at its nearby grocery store.
Partnership
Giant Eagle began exploring convenience stores two years ago when it created a partnership with Guttman Enterprises of Belle Vernon, Pa. Guttman operates the Crossroads convenience store chain in Pennsylvania.
The joint venture last year took 15 of the 27 Crossroads stores, turned them into GetGo stores and has been expanding the concept.
"A year ago we had zero GetGo locations, and now we have 50, so that tells you it's something we're looking to aggressively expand," Borella said.
Giant Eagle officials think the convenience stores fit well with the concept of their regular stores, which feature services such as dry cleaning, pharmacies and video rentals, he said.
These are all services that are designed to save the consumer from having to make an extra trip, he said. Placing a gas station, with convenience food, at the stores also can save consumers some time, he said.
Some GetGo stores are stand-alone locations that aren't near Giant Eagle stores, however.
shilling@vindy.com