By Mark Ambrogi
Dan Donovan is bullish about the food market in Carmel.
“Carmel and Greater Indianapolis have a really thriving food scene,” said Donovan, director of corporation communications for Giant Eagle Inc. “We’re excited about our Market District concept since its inception in 2006 when we opened our first Market District locations in Pittsburgh. Given the passion for food in the community we really thought Market District was a perfect fit for our customers there.”
Market District, part of The Bridges retail development, will open its first store in Indiana and its 13th nationally at 11505 N. Illinois St., Carmel. Market District is part of the Giant Eagle chain.
The grand opening for the approximately 120,000-square-foot store will begin with a ribbon cutting at 9 a.m. Giant Eagle CEO Laura Karet and North Central High School graduate Marc Summers, host of “Unwrapped” and executive producer of “Restaurant: Impossible” on Food Network, will participate in the celebration.
Market District has a bakery, a sweets shop and a restaurant called table by Market District. The restaurant will serve lunch and dinner, along with Sunday brunch. It will also have a bar with 18 craft beers on tap.
“We’re really looking forward to introducing our customers to a new world of food,” Donovan said.
He said Market District has unique, hard-to-find items as well as the national brands customers can expect from a more traditional supermarket.
“We feel we offer the best of both worlds,” Donovan said.
Donovan said the store is fully staffed.
“We do bump right up against the holiday time frame, and we will be looking for seasonal staffing for those needs,” he said. “The staffing efforts will continue in that regard.”
A getGo Cafe + Market, owned by Giant Eagle, is adjacent to the Market District. It also opens Oct. 7 with a ribbon cutting at 8 a.m.
Market District has approximately 550 employees, and getGo has about 30 employees. There is cafe market, featuring Signatures Subs, burgers, wraps and other items, and a fuel station with 16 pumps. It’s the 199th getGo that has opened.
“The vast majority of team members at the Carmel location are from the Greater Indianapolis area,” Donovan said. “Our executive store leader is Jim Griffith, who comes from another Market District in Columbus, Ohio, but does have roots in the Indianapolis area.”
