Giant Eagle to sell GetGo stores to Canadian group

Giant Eagle’s GetGo gas stations and convenience stores are being bought by a Canadian company that also owns the Circle K chain, company officials announced Monday.

The “myPerks” loyalty program that offers discounts on gas prices and grocery purchases will continue after the deal is finalized at GetGo and Giant Eagle locations, according to Giant Eagle spokesperson Jannah Jablonowski.

Terms of the deal with Alimentation Couche-Tard, expected to be finalized in 2025, were not released. GetGo now operates 270 stores.

Alimentation Couche-Tard, based in Montreal, was founded in 1981 and also owns and operates Circle K convenience stores.

“They’ve grown by acquisitions over the last 40 years, so this definitely fits Couche-Tard’s business model,” said Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the Virginia-based National Association of Convenience Stores.

GetGo stores employ about 3,500 people across Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana. It is the fifth-largest convenience store chain in Pennsylvania, with 106 locations.

Giant Eagle officials said Couche-Tard “intends to retain all dedicated GetGo store, operations and support Team Members” in a news release.

The stores will continue to operate as part of Giant Eagle until the sale officially closes, company officials said.

“This enhances our focus on our core supermarket and pharmacy businesses, strengthening Giant Eagle and better enabling us to make strategic investments in our people, stores, and value proposition while matching GetGo with the perfect partner in Couche-Tard,” Giant Eagle CEO Bill Artman said.

Running a grocery chain is very different from running convenience stores, Lenard said.

“Groceries and convenience stores are two completely different businesses, and one of them is constantly redefining convenience commerce,” he said.

Large retailers have shown a desire to enter the convenience market, Lenard said.

“Amazon, Walmart, Tesco in the U.K. ended up opening some Fresh & Easy stores on the West Coast, but their model didn’t succeed,” he said.

GetGo stores have a variety of models, from standalone kiosks to fuel stations and convenience stores featuring made-to-order foods.

“Giant Eagle has done an amazing job with GetGo,” Lenard said. “With the pandemic, small-format (stores) took off a bit, as people were a little more hesitant to go into big places. And if you look at store builds over the past few years, it’s a lot of smaller-format stores.”

Giant Eagle has undergone recent leadership change, with Artman taking over as the first CEO who is not a member of the chain’s founders, the Shapira family.

It was also knocked off its perch as the region’s most popular grocery store in 2023, according to data from Chain Store Guide, an industry analytics firm. Walmart took the top spot.

In recent years, Giant Eagle has focused on transitioning several stores to its more-upscale Market District brand.