David Shapira is not afraid to take risks. That trait has won him respect in the industry and has helped put Giant Eagle on the cutting edge of supermarket retailing.

Shapira stood solidly behind the launch of the chain’s fresh-format Market District stores, which continue to ring up successes. The format that spotlights fresh food in a variety of ways and pushes customer service to new heights represented a big departure from the chain’s traditional stores.

Now the third Market District store, which will go up next year, is set to co-anchor an innovative 600,000-squarefoot “lifestyle center” on newly developed land in Pittsburgh.

“We are excited to introduce our first ground-up Giant Eagle Market District destination store to area shoppers,” said Rob Borella, senior director of marketing/corporate communications, in a statement to the press at the time the development deal was culminated.

The Market District store and a huge Cinemark theater will be the features of the new mall, which will also include restaurants and various retail venues.

Stepping up to take an anchor spot in a new shopping center may be a challenge, but Shapira, Giant Eagle’s chairman, president and chief executive officer, and his management team take such projects in stride.

Long before the current fuel crisis was upon us, Shapira gave the go-ahead for the company’s first GetGo fuel and convenience store, and now the company counts 140 GetGo locations.

Late last year, the company acquired a bottling plant in a Pittsburgh suburb, which it has reopened and put to work bottling water under the Giant Eagle label. Flavored water, teas and carbonated beverages also are on the agenda.

In addition to producing its own private-label bottled drinks, Giant Eagle will produce and bottle beverages for other businesses.

These kinds of branch-out moves have put Giant Eagle in a leadership position — a position that leaves it undaunted as competition moves into the area. But even in the midst of such action, the chain announced this spring that it was reducing prices on thousands of national and privatelabel products.

Such initiatives secure the chain’s place in a tough market, one source told SN.

“Moving to EDLP pricing to more effectively compete against Wal-Mart was good, and they’ve been aggressive with $4 generics and fuel perks to be responsive to current conditions,” he said.

Industry sources have repeatedly told SN that Giant Eagle is highly respected in the industry for its outstanding pharmacy program, and last fall the chain enhanced its popular $4 generic prescription program.

“A lot of the individual efforts that aren’t directly related to traditional grocery mainline sales are championed by David,” said consultant Howard Solganik, partner in Culinary Resources Group, Dayton, Ohio. “He is just always interested in better serving Giant Eagle’s customers. That’s his major concern.”

Several industry sources— including Ted Taft, managing director at Wilton, Conn.-based Meridian Consulting Group — have called Giant Eagle one of the more nimble large supermarket chains, and many praise Shapira for keeping it that way.

Neil Stern, senior partner at McMillan Doolittle, Chicago, is one of those.

“David has done a superb job of managing the increasing complexity of the business and ensuring that Giant Eagle stays a leading regional force,” Stern said.

Solganik agreed, and he attributed much of Giant Eagle’s success and position in the market to the way Shapira deals with people.

“David’s intense desire to learn and continually improve himself and those around him is a major component of his leadership. He may have a million things on his mind, but when he is talking to you, you feel that you are the center of his attention.”

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