Giant Eagle to Debut Its 1st Zero-Waste Grocery Store
Giant Eagle Inc.’s newest Market District will open Thursday, July 25, in Westfield, Ind., marking the company’s second specialty grocery location in the Indianapolis area. The Westfield Market District, located at 744 East Tournament Trail in Westfield, has been built from the ground up with sustainability in mind.
Not only has the Westfield Market District been designed to achieve LEED certification, but it will also be the company’s first zero-waste location. The grocery store will partner with a variety of sustainability-focused organizations, including Gleaners’ Fresh Food Rescue program and Denali Organic Recycling, to exceed the standard of 90% waste diversion from landfills as set by the Zero Waste International Alliance.
The Westfield Market District will also serve the community by bringing together locally made items alongside national brands for a one-stop shopping experience.
"We are thrilled to introduce our new Market District location to our Westfield neighbors — we have been hard at work creating a unique and inviting culinary destination, and we can’t wait to share it with the community," noted Paul Abbott, Market District senior director, who received a Leadership Award at the Specialty Food Association's inaugural Awards Gala last month in New York City. "We've curated a shopping experience to meet the needs of the Westfield area, celebrating everyday grocery essentials alongside local treasures from Indiana's own artisans and chef-designed prepared offerings that make mealtime easier than ever, all brought to life with a focus on quality and value.”
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Designed with a separate door for easy access, the Chef Prepared Grab & Go section offers an expansive prepared food and grab-and-go section at the store's west entrance that can be enjoyed in-store or taken home. Shoppers can quickly access chef-prepared meals, soup and salad options, freshly made in-store sushi, single-serve bakery items, and single-serve cold beverages. Additional highlights include an in-store pizza oven, a new line of signature pressed sandwiches, and a chef-curated gourmet case created for ready-to-heat and -eat meals.
Specialty cakes and cookies, as well as bread, are baked fresh daily and will be available in the self-service bakery. Westfield will feature Market District’s first warm-cookie counter offering warmed chocolate chunk cookies throughout the day.
The newest Market District will also offer a catering department to support menu planning for events of any size.
Westfield Market District will open to guests at 6 a.m. on July 25. Each of the first 50 guests to visit the store will receive a $200 Market District gift card (limit of one per household). Additional celebratory activities will include a DJ, product sampling, prize wheels, several giveaways for those in attendance, and outdoor yard games.
A ceremonial ribbon-cutting will take place at 10 a.m. with attendance from Westfield community dignitaries and Giant Eagle and Market District team members. As part of the grand-opening festivities, the store will make donations to Gleaners in support of the food bank's fresh food rescue program and to Grace Care Center Mobile Pantry to aid in the organization’s efforts to provide affordable, nutritious food and continue supporting the community. The ribbon-cutting will be followed by the Press for Success panini grill-off at noon at which three Westfield-area residents will see whose custom panini creation takes top honors from a group of judges.
Celebratory activities will continue with a weekend-long Market District block party featuring food, live music, games, prizes and more. The block party will take place from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Giant Eagle currently operates a Market District location in the Indianapolis area at 11505 Illinois Street in Carmel.
The food retailer has approximately 480 stores throughout western Pennsylvania, north central Ohio, northern West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana. The company is No. 42 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. PG also named the company one of its Top Regional Retailers.
