Rosemary Mountain, 45, had been making the 30-minute trek from Baltimore to shop at mega-grocer Wegmans in Hunt Valley until she noticed some changes at her local Giant Food grocery.
The store was brighter and the aisles wider. The selection was much better, especially the larger organic foods section, she said. And the store had new gadgets that enabled her to scan her groceries as she shopped. She thinks Wegman's prices are better, but is shopping at Giant more.
"Wegmans became a bit of a drive, and Giant improved," she said.
After years of losing market share, Landover-based Giant rolled out a plan two years ago to win back customers by lowering prices on hundreds of items and overhauling stores. While not everyone thinks its prices have improved, Giant's overhaul appears to be working.
The company has posted sales increases in three consecutive quarters for the first time in many years. Sales increased 3.6 percent in the first quarter, the company reported recently.
The sales increases for Giant have come as people are eating at home more but trading down to cheaper grades of meat and private-label brands.
After accounting for inflation, sales declined 1.2 percent for the industry as a whole in 2008, according to a report released last month by the Food Marketing Institute.
The 73-year-old Giant Food is the region's largest grocery chain, but it had lost market share and sales in recent years. The company has acknowledged that it had lost some of what had made it popular, such as good service and personal relationships between customers and employees. Some stores had become outdated.
The grocer's problems were worsened by a market that became more competitive each year with Wegmans, Whole Foods Markets Inc., Shoppers Food and Pharmacy, Harris Teeter and others moving more aggressively into the market or improving their stores. Wal-Mart has introduced its grocery concept to the area, and Target recently said it will expand the grocery options at two of its area stores.
Giant's share of the market dipped to 27.48 percent from March 2007 to March 2008, down from 29.42 percent the previous 12 months, according to the latest figures released by the trade publication Food World. The publication will release new grocery data June 15.
John Rishton, chief executive of the Dutch grocery company Royal Ahold, which owns Giant, said in a statement that sales at Giant "were the strongest in many years and helping us grow market share and margin."
