Giant Food Stores (aka Giant-Carlisle) operates nearly 200 supermarkets and superstores under the Giant and Martin's Food Markets banners in Pennsylvania, and in Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. Not to be confused with its Landover, Maryland-based sister company Giant Food, both firms are divisions of Ahold USA, which operates some 750 supermarkets along the East Coast. Giant Food Stores was founded in 1923 in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and acquired by Amsterdam-based Royal Ahold in 1981. As a result of the latest reorganization of its US operations, the grocery company's Dutch parent has positioned Giant Food Stores for growth by separating its support functions from those of its other US chains.