FTC Approves Giant's Purchase of 15 Genuardi's

The Federal Trade Commission has approved 's acquisition of 15 stores, according to a press release issued by Giant on Friday.

On Tuesday, when Patch spoke with Chris Brand, Giant's community relations manager, Brand expected the acquisition to be final in the "coming weeks."

The press release states that 1,700 former Genuardi’s employees have been offered jobs under the stores' new owners, a number that represents "nearly all who applied for employment with GIANT at the stores GIANT is purchasing."

Giant will also hire approximately 900 part-time associates in addition to the 1,700 former Genuardi's employees being retained.

"With the addition of these jobs, GIANT Food Stores, the third-largest private sector employer in Pennsylvania, will increase its Pennsylvania workforce by ten percent," the release states.

Brand told Patch in an email earlier this week that once the acquisition was approved by the FTC: 

A group of 5 stores will close for approximately one week, during which time our team of associates will be making conversions around the clock. Pharmacies will remain open during the conversion process, and we will work to ensure the least amount of disruption to customers as part of the process. The next week, a different group of stores will be closed and converted, and the week after that, the last group. We will actively communicate with our customers once we have news about the timing for the conversions.

The stores to be closed in each phase have not yet been announced.

Giant and Genuardi's corporate offices have both been contacted for comment.