Giant Eagle opens European-style Market District food store

CLEVELAND — Inspired by the open-air markets of Europe, Giant Eagle, Inc., opened its first Market District food store in Northeast Ohio — a 94,000-square-foot culinary, dining and shopping destination — today in the Solon Village Shopping Center that the company will staff with a licensed skin care professional and dietitian who will conduct health-and-wellness activities in the store.

Market District appeals to food enthusiasts who enjoy the sights, smells and tastes of fresh, new and exciting foods. The Solon Market District, the seventh for the multi-format food retailer, delivers a food utopia to Northeast Ohio residents with a mix of the best in everyday offerings and unique foods from around the world.

On August 8, Michael Symon, host of ABC’s “The Chew”, will help celebrate the grand opening of Solon Market District. Michael will join Giant Eagle’s CEO, Laura Karet, to cook one of the Iron Chef’s yet to be unveiled recipes in the Market District’s state-of-the-art demonstration kitchen.

Market District’s 400 team members are passionate about food and ready to deliver exceptional service by sharing new products, recipes and culinary ideas. The Market District team includes graduates of the Culinary Institute of America, Ohio State University and University of Akron, complementing Giant Eagle-certified cheesemongers and other food professionals.

The Solon Market District welcomes customers from across the area to a new world of food, where they can sample restaurant-quality dishes and find unique meat, produce, cheese and grocery selections from around the globe, the company stated. While Market District does offer unique items not available elsewhere, it also sells everyday items like brand-name detergents, cola products and a number of other items you would expect to find in a traditional Giant Eagle supermarket at the same low prices.

The Solon Market District also features many of the products, promotions and other savings opportunities that customers have come to expect from Cleveland-area Giant Eagle locations, including the retailer’s recent price reduction efforts, great weekly specials, strong pharmacy offerings highlighted by the $4 and $10 generic prescription drug program, doubling of manufacturer coupons up to $0.99 and the fuelperks! customer loyalty program.

Martha Stewart called Market District “a veritable retail wonderland,” and Guy Fieri “the Disneyland of grocery stores.” According to the company, the Solon Market District features:

• A bounty of garden fresh produce that features domestic, specialty, regionally grown and seasonal fruits and vegetables, including more than 120 organic varieties.


• A gourmet burger station which features perfectly grilled, delicious hamburgers made from meat fresh ground in-store by our butchers, with housemade burger sauce and hand-cut french fries. 


• Curbside Express enables online grocery ordering at MarketDistrict.com/Curbside and provides a flexible schedule for easy pickup at the front of the store. Market District Team Members act as personal shoppers, carefully select the items on the grocery list and bring them to the store’s dedicated outside Curbside Express Pick-Up vehicle lane on the selected date and time. Customers are able to pay for their order without leaving their car, while Team Members load their items into the vehicle.


• A sweet shop features the finest hand-dipped chocolate novelties, gourmet confections and nostalgic candy classics like Necco Wafers and Pixie Stix, as well as fresh-roasted nuts, hand-dipped caramel apples, just-spun cotton candy and fresh, homemade kettle corn. 


• A smoke and fire slow-roasting rotisserie includes fire-grilled, juicy roasted meats, ribs, chicken and more.


• A variety of hot and cold food bars feature a smorgasbord of home-style favorites, authentic international dishes, spicy wings, garden-fresh vegetables and gourmet toppings.


• Market District sushi chefs transform fresh seafood into classic Japanese maki rolls, nigiri, sashimi, and bento with organic rice.


• An artisan cheese shop offers 400-plus handcrafted domestic and imported cheeses, including fresh hand wrapped mozzarella, goat & sheep’s milk cheeses from Europe & the Americas and an array of enticing Goudas, Blue’s and mountain cheeses.


• Market District offers our very own in house roasted meats, as well as the finest in charcuterie, showcasing imported cured meats from Italy and Spain, unique artisan products such as Fra’ Mani Handcrafted Salumi and La Quercia from Iowa. Our Delicatessens take particular pride in the roasting, smoking and curing process. Choose from our NYC style corned beef, pastrami & brisket, our famous roasted turkey breast or smoked turkey breast, or good old fashioned roast beef. We think you won’t find a better alternative.


• Expertly selected and cut fresh meat and seafood, including dry-aged beef, chicken sausage made in-store, hard-to-find meats such as grass-fed beef, bison and game, Nature’s Basket antibiotic free meats and poultry and more; high-quality seafood from sustainable sources such as Alaska salmon and Gulf of Maine cod; a wide assortment of shellfish, including wild American shrimp, jumbo sea scallops, live clams, oysters and lobsters; and salmon burgers, crab-stuffed salmon and jumbo lump crab cakes.


• A cornucopia of international foods with more than 10,000 natural and organic items, international items and unique specialty groceries.


• A bulk foods section that includes 12 varieties of olive oil and vinegars, 28 varieties of teas, 48 spices and more than 60 bulk foods items, including rice/beans/grains, nut meats, granola/cereals, dried fruit, trail/party mixes and confectionary.


• Straight-from-the-hearth artisan breads, crafted at dawn and baked fresh daily alongside made-from-scratch cookies and donuts, as well as boiled and hearth-baked bagels.


• A beverage bar with coffee roasted on site to brew frothy cappuccinos and creamy lattes, seasonal specialty drinks, mulled cider, eggnog and fruit smoothies made with fresh-squeezed juices.


• An ongoing schedule of in-store events to entertain and educate shoppers, including live music and daily cooking demonstrations from resident and celebrity chefs. A spacious and inviting in-store restaurant featuring free Wi-Fi and real tableware. A beer and wine store with more than 1,800 wines from around the world and a selection of more than 800 beers to enjoy with a delicious Market District meal. In addition, a full state liquor agency carries more than 1,000 spirits.


• An expanded health, beauty and wellness department filled with natural and organic cosmetics, vitamins, supplements and personal care products, and staffed with a licensed skin care professional and a licensed dietitian conducting ongoing wellness events and activities.

The store will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week and is located at 34310 Aurora Road in Solon. It will replace the Solon Giant Eagle which closed at 3:00 pm on Wednesday. The grand opening is being celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the store featuring Market District executives and celebrity chef Michael Symon. The store will host many more exciting activities and events for customers throughout the month of August.

Michael Symon joins a long list of celebrities who have visited Market District, including Cake Boss Buddy Valastro, Guy Fieri and Martha Stewart. Adam Richman, host of the Travel Channel’s popular show, “Man vs. Food”, called Market District “heaven’s gift to food