Giant will close its Heirloom Market store at Center City’s historic Strawbridge’s building in late December, citing poor performance and other problems at the location that opened three years ago.
The store at 801 Market St. is one of four Giant Heirloom Markets that have opened in the city since 2019. The stores have smaller footprints and a more curated selection of groceries compared to Giant’s full-sized supermarkets. The others are in Graduate Hospital, Northern Liberties and University City.
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The 32,000-square-foot Heirloom store in Center City will close Dec. 28, a Giant spokesperson said Friday.
“This is simply a business decision, only made after a thorough assessment and efforts to improve performance,” the company said. “Unfortunately, this store has not performed to our expectations and when coupled with the challenges we and others have faced in the neighborhood, it no longer makes sense to continue operating at this location.”
The grocery store occupied the ground floor of the 13-story building that once served as the home of the Strawbridge & Clothier department store. The business was part of a thriving commercial corridor on East Market Street during the second half of the 19th century and much of the 20th century. Macy’s later acquired the Strawbridge’s brand and shut down the Center City store in 2006.
Giant had restored the space at the building and maintained many of its interior features, including chandelier lighting and decorative trim. The department store’s famed “Il Porcellino” sculpture of a wild boar also was kept next to the store’s self-serve beer station, which Giant shut down earlier this year.
The pending closure of the Heirloom Market comes after the adjacent Ross Stores left its storefront at 7th and Market Street last year and moved to 1044 Market Street, where a Marshall’s store had closed earlier in the year. Storefronts for two former Rite Aid stores on Market Street also remain vacant after both locations closed last year.
The Philadelphia 76ers have pointed to the ailing retail landscape on East Market Street as one of the reasons the city should approve the team’s proposed arena that would replace a portion of the Fashion District Philadelphia mall between 10th and 11th streets. Legislation for that project — backed by Mayor Cherelle Parker — will be reviewed by City Council during a series of hearings that start next week. The Parker administration has touted the prospect of additional investments in residential and retail projects to revitalize that stretch of Market Street.
Despite the planned closure of Giant Heirloom Market, the Carlisle-based grocery store chain has continued expanding in Philadelphia in recent years. The company has 10 stores in the city and plans to open another location in South Philadelphia in mid-December at Broad and Carpenter streets. Giant also unveiled plans in September to open a store next year at the Andorra Shopping Center in Roxborough.
Staff at the Giant Heirloom Market in Center City will be offered positions with the same pay and benefits at other stores in Philadelphia after the closure, the company said.
