Last Updated on 10/18/2021 by GS Staff
Is Giant Eagle Publicly Traded?
Giant Eagle is one of America’s largest private companies. The general public cannot purchase shares of this supermarket chain since it is private. Furthermore, it does not have a ticker symbol or stock price.
Who Owns Giant Eagle?
The roots of Giant Eagle date back to the early 1900s when five families joined together to open the first Giant Eagle grocery store in 1936. These families were named Chait, Goldstein, Moravitz, Porter, and Weizenbaum. Prior to opening Giant Eagle, Chait, Goldstein, and Porter owned a chain of grocery stores called Eagle Grocery. This chain was sold to Kroger in 1928.
Today, members of the five original families still participate in running the business and own it as well. The families have grown the business to over 400 locations that include approximately 230 supermarkets and 180 fuel and convenience stores. Giant Eagle is a regional company that operates in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland.
Will Giant Eagle Go Public?
There certainly has been speculation in the past that Giant Eagle would someday go public. For example, in 2005 the company was rumored to be interested in purchasing Marsh Supermarkets Inc. If Giant Eagle were to have bought the publicly traded Marsh, it was speculated that Giant Eagle would become publicly upon the acquisition. Marsh ended up being sold to Sun Capital in 2006 and the company took Marsh private after many years of being publicly traded.
While rumors will likely continue to pop up from time to time regarding Giant Eagle going public, you should assume the supermarket chain will remain private unless you hear otherwise from the company. We have no indication that Giant Eagle will ever be publicly but we let you know when/if we hear otherwise.
Publicly Traded Grocery Stores
Here are several grocery stores that are publicly traded. You may wish to research these companies for investment purposes since Giant Eagle does not publicly trade. Of course, be sure to do your own proper due diligence and seek financial professional advice when needed prior to making any investment.
- Kroger (NYSE:KR) – Kroger has more than 2,700 stores across the United Stated. It is the largest supermarket in America based on revenue.
- Albertsons (NYSE:ACI) – Albertsons has around 2,250 stores making it the second largest supermarket chain in the United States based on store count. In addition to Albertsons stores, the company operates Safeway, Vons, and Jewel-Osco.
- Weis Markets (NYSE:WMK) – Weis started as a small Pennsylvania store in 1912. The company has since grown to around 200 stores in the Mid-Atlantic region.
- Sprouts (NASDAQ:SFM) – The Phoenix based Sprouts has over 340 stores across 23 states with the majority in California. It was founded in 2002 by the Boney family who had a history of operating farmer markets.
- Walmart (NYSE:WMT) – The Bentonville, Arkansas company needs no introduction. It is the largest company globally based on revenue. Its annual revenue as of 1/31/2021 was $559,151,000,000. The company has over 10,500 total retail units worldwide.
- Target (NYSE:TGT) – Target initially opened in 1962 as a discount store owned by Dayton Corporation. There are greater than 1,900 Target stores in the U.S. Target owns the popular grocery delivery service known as Shipt.
- Village Supermarket (NASDAQ:VLGEA) – The company operates 38 stores under ShopRite, Fairway Markets, and Gourmet Garage. They are located in New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York.
- Ingles Markets (NASDAQ:IMKTA) – Ingles Markets has approximately 200 stores in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee. The company also operates stores under the Sav-Mor name.
- Spartan Nash (NASDAQ:SPTN) – Spartan Nash has 145 owned stores and distributes to more than 2,100 independent retailers.
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