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Jun 06, 2023

Giant Food to close Hanover delivery warehouse, lay off workers

Giant Food plans to shut down its delivery warehouse in Hanover after more than four years in operation. The 150,000-square-foot warehouse at 1020A Airport 100 Way in Hanover is a major hub for the

Giant Food plans to shut down its delivery warehouse in Hanover after more than four years in operation.

The 150,000-square-foot warehouse at 1020A Airport 100 Way in Hanover is a major hub for the grocer’s Giant Delivers home delivery service. The closure is scheduled for Oct. 21 and will entail 362 layoffs, according to a plant closure notice filed on Maryland's Work Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) log.

Giant also plans to shutter two other delivery warehouses: an 82,000-square-foot facility in Manassas, Virginia that opened in May, and a smaller site in Milford, Delaware, according to a company spokesperson.

The spokesperson did not disclose the exact number of jobs at the Hanover location but said the total number of employees impacted across the three facilities is roughly 400. In addition to the 362 estimated layoffs on Maryland's WARN log, the Virginia log shows 72 workers will be affected by the Manassas closure. A filing for the Delaware location is not available. Laid off workers will have the chance to apply for new roles within Giant.

The closure of the Giant Delivers facilities is part of the company’s search for “localized delivery options” to meet its customers’ “changing needs,” the spokesperson said. The company still plans to offer delivery but did not share details about new options.

“We look forward to continuing to serve our customers in all the ways they want to shop. We will provide updates over the next several weeks with respect to the localized delivery options that will best serve our customers going forward,” the spokesperson said.

It’s an abrupt turnaround for the company. Giant told the Washington Business Journal in May that it planned to use the new Manassas site to expand its delivery service as far south as Charlottesville.

The Hanover warehouse, about five miles from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, opened in October 2019 as the grocer rolled out the Giant Delivers program. A press release from the time touts the site as the company’s “ecommerce hub for the entire DMV region,” covering next-day delivery orders in more than 300 ZIP codes in the area. Giant has 13 supermarkets in Maryland, according to its website, and 165 locations across Virginia, Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Delaware.

The cuts are the second wave to hit Hanover recently. Earlier this month, moving and storage company WayForth announced 76 layoffs at its facility on 7020 Dorsey Road as part of its nationwide pullback.

Property records show the warehouse where Giant is located is owned by CLPF 1020 Airport 100 Way LLC, which purchased the building in 2017 for $42 million. The warehouse is located next door to a cluster of industrial properties that were recently purchased by logistics giant Prologis Inc. for a total of $129 million as part of a national portfolio deal.