Glimpse: Giant #6548 - Willow Street, PA

Giant #6548, located at 106 Willow Valley Square in Willow Street, Pennsylvania opened in 2018 in a space formerly occupied by Darrenkamp's, which opened in 1998. 

Unless you're from or have visited Lancaster County, PA you're likely not familiar with Darrenkamp's, so here's a quick history.

In 1932, George Darrenkamp opened a small store at 719 Union Street in downtown Lancaster. The store was named "The General Store".

In 1948, needing more floor space, George and his children (Dick & Jerry) relocated their store to 713 Union Street, and reopened under the name, "G. Darrenkamp & Sons".

The business continued to grow, and in 1985; they purchased Dagen's Market in Willow Street, PA.

In 1997, the first traditional Darrenkamp's opened in Mount Joy, PA.

In 1998, a second location joined it in Willow Street, PA (the location this blog post is about)

In 1999, the Union Street store was closed in favor of the new, larger, and more traditional stores.

In 2007, a third store opened in Elizabethtown, PA

And finally, in 2014, a fourth and final store opened in Etters, PA. This was the company's first store outside of Lancaster County.

In 2018, the chain was acquired by Giant Food Stores, LLC. All four stores were liquidated, and the Willow Street one reopened as a Giant.

Remember that Shur Fine supermarket in New Oxford, PA I did a post on a little while ago? I forgot to mention that they supplied the Family Owned Markets (a group that Darrenkamp's was part of). The stores switched to Best Yet around 2018 and to IGA in 2020.
Photo from Darrenkamp's website

Quick Information:

Opened: 1998 / 2018

Address: 106 Willow Valley Square

Photographed: February 2021