Giant Eagle Honored With Green Grocer Award for Environmental Practices by Progressive Grocer Magazine

Giant Eagle Honored With Green Grocer Award for Environmental Practices by
Progressive Grocer Magazine

PITTSBURGH, Nov. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Supermarket retailer Giant Eagle®, Inc.
today celebrated the receipt of a Green Grocer award from the supermarket
industry's Progressive Grocer magazine. Retailers selected by Progressive
Grocer include only a select few supermarkets that have demonstrated highly
innovative projects or efforts to help the industry as a whole become more
environmentally responsible. Award winners were recognized at Progressive
Grocers' Corporate Social Responsibility Awards, held on Tuesday, Nov. 3 in
Phoenix.

"Being named a Green Grocer underscores Giant Eagle's commitment to
environmental responsibility across all areas of our business from recycling
to store construction," said Giant Eagle Senior Vice President of Real Estate
Shelly Sponholz. "We see our efforts in the area of environmental stewardship
as part of how we serve the communities in which we operate and we are honored
by this recognition."

"'Corporate responsibility' is a term that can be overused -- or even
overlooked -- but our editorial staff is very fortunate to have an opportunity
to continually learn about industry-leading companies that are not only
dedicated to serving their communities, but are also focused on being
outstanding global citizens," explained Michelle Moran, Editor-in-Chief of
Progressive Grocer. "For this reason, we are both pleased and proud to honor
Giant Eagle's exemplary commitment and focus on environmental sustainability
efforts," added Moran.

Giant Eagle maintains the company's green commitment through energy
management, recycling initiatives and community environmental outreach. Last
year, Giant Eagle recycled more than 92 million pounds of materials --
consisting of cardboard, film plastic, mixed office paper, and meat and
cooking byproducts -- and sold and encouraged customer use of reusable bags at
every store.

This year marked the fourth year in a row Giant Eagle was recognized by the
U.S. EPA for its energy conservation efforts with an ENERGY STAR Sustained
Excellence Award.

In addition to building the world's first Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED)-certified supermarket in 2004 in Brunswick, Oh.,
and being awarded in 2008 the first-ever Gold LEED award in the "New
Construction" category for its New Albany supermarket in Columbus, Oh., the
company has continued to incorporate sound environmental features into all of
its new construction and remodeled stores.

These environmentally-friendly store features can include:
-- Naturally beautiful light -- integrated with the electrical lights, to
deliver daylight to the store while offering a consistent lighting
level
and minimizing electricity usage;
-- Fresh air -- air quality sensors constantly monitor for carbon dioxide
to ensure fresh, clean air throughout the store. Air quality is
improved by the use of adhesives, sealants, paints, carpeting and wood
products that are low in volatile organic compounds;
-- Water conservation -- parking lot landscaping has been planted with
drought-tolerant vegetation that requires no irrigation;
-- Water retention - a retention pond holds excess water, preventing it
from contributing to the storm water peak flows that affect many
natural
rivers and streams;
-- Greater energy savings -- green energy sources provide stores with the
capability to consume 20% less energy than comparable, conventionally
designed supermarkets;
-- Use less heating and cooling -- increased insulation, reflective
roofing, and day lighting help the store save energy year round;
-- Cleaner atmosphere -- stores use no-ozone-depleting refrigerants in
refrigeration and cooling systems;

-- Recycling and recycled materials -- a majority of construction waste,
such as steel and drywall, is sent to various companies for reuse, and
nearly all wood used is harvested from sustainable resources. All
cabinetry is free of urea formaldehyde and all gypsum wallboard is
made
from 10% recycled materials. Nearly all food by products, such as
cooking oil and trimmings, are transformed into other areas including
bio-diesel fuel, animal feed, and lubricants.

Across all of its stores, Giant Eagle currently buys more than 17 million
kilowatt-hours of wind power annually as a member of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's Green Power Partnership. Additionally, the U.S. EPA's
GreenChill Advanced Refrigeration Partnership recognized Giant Eagle earlier
this year for having one of the two lowest refrigerant emissions within the
program's membership.

About Giant Eagle
Giant Eagle Inc., ranked 39 on Forbes magazine's largest private corporations
list and recipient of Grocery Headquarters' 2007 Retailer of the Year Award
and the EPA's ENERGY STAR Retail Partner of the Year Award, is one of the
nation's largest food retailers and food distributors with approximately $8.2
billion in annual sales. Founded in 1931, Giant Eagle, Inc. has grown to be
the number one supermarket retailer in the region with 160 corporate and 60
independently owned and operated supermarkets in addition to 153 fuel and
convenience stores throughout western Pennsylvania, Ohio, north central West
Virginia and Maryland.

SOURCE Giant Eagle

Dan Donovan of Giant Eagle, +1-412-963-5072, daniel.donovan@gianteagle.com; or
Dick Roberts of Roberts Communications for Giant Eagle, +1-412-535-5000,
droberts@rob-com.com