Fans of the Internet grocery-ordering service Peapod are getting two pickup options in Montgomery County and one in Centreville.
Peapod customers are now able to pick up their groceries at the Kingsview Village Giant at 18331 Leaman Farm Road and the Neelsville Village Center Giant at 20944 Frederick Road, according to representatives from both companies.
The pickup at the Centreville Giant store at 14125 St. Germain Drive will begin Tuesday, June 11, according to Peg Merzbacher, director of marketing for Peapod.
Chicago-based Peapod LLC and Landover-based Giant Food LLC are both owned by Dutch company Royal Ahold NV. Peapod works in partnership with Ahold-owned grocery stores, including Giants and Stop & Shops.
Previously, Peapod acted only as a delivery service in the Washington region. Customers placed an order, and Peapod took it to their homes. The company announced last month that it plans to open a pickup site in Chevy Chase, but that location isn’t expected to open until later this year.
The pickup service is free, unlike delivery, which ranges from $8 to $10. Customers can choose a one-hour window to pick up their order. There is also no minimum order; delivery orders must include at least $60 of groceries.
Peapod tested the pickup concept in Illinois last year and has been slowly rolling it out in other markets. Locally, there are pickup sites in Columbia and Clarkesville, Md. The company plans to add pickup locations rapidly, according to Merzbacher, although she declined to say how many locations it expects to open in the next two years.
Most of the pickup spots will be in existing Giant grocery stores, rather than at stand-alone locations, to leverage the company’s real estate profile, Merzbacher added.
