THE GAZETTE
Page A-6
Wednesday, August 7, 2013 d
Giant, others look to make shopping more convenient Grocery pickup service to start at stand-alone site in Chevy Chase
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BY
KEVIN JAMES SHAY STAFF WRITER
Giant Food and home-delivery afďŹ liate Peapod are stepping up their services, as more grocers and online retailers offer customers the convenience of having groceries delivered. Starting Wednesday, customers who order groceries online from Peapod can pick them up at Giant’s ďŹ rst stand-alone site in Maryland, at 8500 Connecticut Ave., Chevy Chase. Customers have been able to
have groceries delivered to their homes for a fee in Montgomery County since 2003, said Peg Merzbacher, a Peapod spokeswoman. There is a minimum order of $60 for home delivery, but there is no minimum or fee if customers pick up their groceries. The ďŹ rst pickup locations at Giant grocery stores in Montgomery opened in June. There are six — two each in Rockville and Germantown, along with ones in Derwood and Chevy Chase. The seventh site in Chevy Chase also will have a Giant gasoline station that likely will open later this week, Giant Food spokesman Jamie Miller said.
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“It’s been well-received,â€? Miller said of the delivery service. “Customers like having this convenience.â€? Landover-based Giant Food and Skokie, Ill.-based Peapod are both subsidiaries of Dutch retail giant Royal Ahold. Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway, which also has numerous stores in Montgomery County, has offered home delivery in the Washington region since 2005, said Craig Muckle, a company spokesman. Currently, Safeway only offers delivery with no in-store pickup for online purchases. “There is a pretty strong core of people who use it,â€? Muckle said. “Some people have challenges going to the store, so it ďŹ ts their needs.â€?
The minimum order for Safeway’s service is $49. The fee for purchases of less than $150 is $12.95, though ďŹ rst orders for new customers are free, according to the website. The delivery fee for home service with Peapod is from $7.95 to $9.95; the lower fee is for orders more than $100. Walmart began testing a delivery service for items that include toys and electronics last year in certain markets, such as Northern Virginia. The service is not yet available in Montgomery County, according to its website. Services such as Netgrocer. com also deliver groceries to customers for a fee. Amazon. com has delivered groceries in the Seattle area for several years and is expanding to other mar-
kets. Online grocery shopping is one of several trends that is changing the face of supermarkets, which also face competition from club stores, dollar stores and farmers markets, according to a new report by Rockville market research ďŹ rm Packaged Facts. About half of shoppers use online or instore coupons and two-thirds buy groceries on sale, according to the ďŹ rm. “Economic, demographic, lifestyle and technological changes have created not only a fertile environment,â€? David Sprinkle, research director for Packaged Facts, said in a statement, “but the absolute necessity for new concepts to engage shoppers ... and reinvent food
and beverage retailing.â€? Giant’s stand-alone site is formatted like a fast-food drivethrough, in which customers remain in their vehicles as workers load their groceries. Giant has 10 other gas stations in Maryland, Miller said. Peapod already has tested stand-alone sites in Illinois and New York. The company also has partnerships with Stop & Shop and Giant-Carlisle. Peapod does not now have pickup delivery sites at Frederick County Giant stores, but the companies are “continually reviewing where to put locations,â€? Miller said. “We do internal research to determine where there will be signiďŹ cant demand.â€? kshay@gazette.net
Duncan pledges to restore income assistance if elected ‘Vital tax credit is one of the single most effective tools to ďŹ ght poverty’
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BY
KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER
A bill to increase income assistance for working families has not only divided the Montgomery County Council, it has found its way into county executive campaign rhetoric. In a recent email soliciting campaign donations, Douglas M. Duncan (D) reminded supporters that during his time as executive, he created the subsidy, known as the Working Families Income Supplement, a tax credit provided working families living at or near poverty. And that if elected in 2014, he would restore it to prerecession levels. “I have always believed that this vital tax credit is one of the single most effective tools to ďŹ ght poverty and that’s why fully restoring it will be one of my top priorities, because in Montgom-
ery County we care about protecting our neighbors,â€? he wrote in the solicitation, a copy of which was provided to The Gazette. Duncan said in an interview Tuesday he created the supplement with the support of County Council members in the late 1990s, including his two opponents in the 2014 race, current County Executive Isiah Leggett and Councilman Philip M. Andrews. “We were the ďŹ rst local government to institute it in the country,â€? Duncan said. “It gets money directly into the hands of working people.â€? Montgomery passed a bill in 2010 giving it leeway to cut the supplement during the recession from a 100 percent match of the state’s income tax credit. But a bill introduced in March by Councilman Hans Riemer would restore and maintain it to a 100 percent match unless a super majority decided it should be lower. Leggett (D) said his administration reduced the supplement as an austerity measure during a
difďŹ cult economy. “We suffered an immense recession, we had to do things differently and do it more efďŹ ciently,â€? he said Tuesday. “I determined that we needed to make some changes, and we made some changes in virtually every program you can name.â€? But while the county reduced the supplement — according to county documents it reached a low of 68.9 percent state match in ďŹ scal 2012 — Montgomery enhanced programs for affordable housing, health insurance and grants to nonproďŹ ts, he said. The county found other creative ways to provide support to its working poor, Leggett said. Riemer (D-At large) of Takoma Park said he expected grumbling when he introduced the bill. What he did not anticipate was such strong opinions. Councilwoman Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring has openly opposed the bill, comparing it to the hand-tying of the state’s education funding requirement, known as maintenance of effort. Council President Nancy Navarro (D-Dist. 4) of Silver Spring asked Riemer to withdraw his bill and submit a
resolution in its place. The longer the council keeps his bill in limbo, the more interest it is going to attract politically, Riemer said. “It’s a real issue and it’s not surprising that it could be something that comes up in the campaign because this is one of the most important anti-poverty policies that we have; it’s been one of Montgomery County’s signature achievements on poverty,� Riemer said. Leggett’s signature is required for the bill to become law. Riemer’s bill would not prevent Leggett from proposing less than 100 percent. However, the bill does require the council to fund the full amount. “It is laudable; I commend him for his intent and his desire to help those who can be assisted by this,� Leggett said. What the council chooses to do with the supplement will be a “strong statement about where Montgomery County’s priorities are,� Duncan said. Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg could not be reached for comment. kalexander@gazette.net
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