As Robert Harmon walked past neatly stacked foods and drinks in a newly renovated Owen Brown Giant May 9, he downplayed the idea that a grocery store competition is brewing in Columbia.

Giant, the largest supermarket chain in Howard County, has begun to renovate its stores in Columbia as other grocery chains, such as Wegmans, Trader Joe's and Harris Teeter have opened, or are planning to open, stores in Columbia.

The Landover-based Giant is not sprucing up its stores in a direct attempt to counter the rise of other grocers in the area, Harmon said.

"I think we want to be competitive in general," said Harmon, Giant's district manager for Columbia. "We needed to upgrade some of our stores. We're doing 100 of them."

The 12-week renovation of the 60,000 square-foot Owen Brown store was part of the first wave of those renovations. Giant has added a broader selection of organic foods, hired a chef to make prepared foods daily, and installed a Starbucks coffee counter in the Owen Brown store.

The company also has upgraded stores in Clarksville and Elkridge, Harmon said, and expects to begin a renovation of its Hickory Ridge store in late June.

Evolution of the industry

The growth of the number of grocery stores in Columbia follows an evolution of the supermarket industry in which chains are consolidating, said Jeffrey Metzger, publisher of Food World, a supermarket industry trade magazine based in Columbia.

"It's an evolution that's been happening over the last 10 years," he said.

In Howard County, established chains such as Giant and Safeway are going to suffer as other chains open stores and compete for the same customers, Metzger said.

Harris Teeter plans to open a 55,000 square-foot store in the Kings Contrivance Village Center on May 20, while Trader Joe's opened a store in Gateway Overlook, in east Columbia, last November.

The Harris Teeter will be open 24 hours and feature a hot food bar, self-service check-out lines and superior customer service, said Jennifer Panetta, a spokeswoman for the store chain.

Harris Teeter is aggressively seeking to open stores in the Baltimore area after moving into northern Virginia, where they are competing against Giant, Metzger said, adding that, although Giant continues to hold the largest share of customers there, Harris Teeter is gaining.

Also, the Rochester, New York based-Wegmans is seeking to open a 160,000 square-foot store off Snowden River Parkway, in east Columbia.

The plan for that store is held up by an appeal from the head of United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 27, who claims the county Planning Board improperly changed zoning to approve the Wegmans project.

On Feb. 25, county Hearing Examiner Michele LeFaivre ruled that union chief Carvel Mays lacked the proper legal standing to challenge the ruling.

Mays has appealed LeFaivre's decision to the county's five-member Board of Appeals, which has yet to schedule a hearing on the matter.

Enough customers for all

Columbia has enough customers to support several supermarket competitors, according to Jeanne Colleluori, a spokeswoman for Wegmans.

"Different stores have different specialties and people will find a store they like," she said, adding that Wegmans plans a Columbia store that will feature prepared foods, large produce and cheese departments and employees trained in customer service.

Giant is reinventing itself to target its services and prices to meet customer needs, according to Metzger, adding that the chain is cutting its inventory of some foods and offering larger amounts of popular products.

As part of the renovation, Giant hired James Conley as the store's first full-time chef, who will prepare packaged meals for customers daily.

The company also added a computerized deli order system that notifies shoppers over a loudspeaker when their order is ready.

The project is "getting our stores where they need to be," Harmon said.

E-mail Andrei Blakely at ablakely@patuxent.com.

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