EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. -- A former Kmart in East Stroudsburg has been transformed into a grocery store. The new Giant store officially opened on Friday.
Lots of people lined up at the front of the store bright and early to be the first inside the new Giant. The first 200 customers walked away with some free grand opening goodies.
Once the ribbon was snipped customers rushed in. The new Giant store in East Stroudsburg is open for business.
Carol Perdon from Stroudsburg was first in line and first inside.
"The guy that greeted me at the door was so nice and people were like, 'Hey, you're first!' So I feel like a celebrity for a day anyway."
The first 200 customers at the grand opening received a free shopping bag filled with all kinds of food samples.
The store includes a full-service pharmacy and a wine and beer cafe. There is also a gas station right outside.
"It's beautiful. They did a great job of renovating what was Kmart. It's wonderful," said Jacklyn Watras of East Stroudsburg.
The store brings more than 150 new jobs to East Stroudsburg.
Sabita Singh is the store manager.
"Amazing, tremendous turnout, tremendous support. We have a great team of talent we were able to hire for this location," said Singh.
People are thrilled to finally have Giant open. For those who had to travel to get to another grocery store, this one is right in their backyard.
"It's good for me because where I live, I got all the stores around. I can pick where I want to go now, from Food Town to the other new stores they put. I am glad they put this here because I got tired of going all the way to the other side of town just to go to Giant," said one shopper.
Giant in East Stroudsburg will be open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to midnight.
Aside from the Giant, people are thrilled to see this entire complex completely transformed into something brand new.
A HomeGoods, a business that sells furnishings at discount prices, opened earlier this month.
"They made it look nice. Extra stores are going in, in between. Now they have a HomeGoods. I mean they are trying to pick up the area that looked like it was falling apart."
George Fuller from East Stroudsburg is glad to have a place close to home where he can find a little bit of everything.
"It's very nice. It went from Kmart to this and it's great. Now with HomeGoods down on the other end, it's going to be good," said Fuller.
There are at least two empty retail spaces left at Pocono Plaza, though there are no plans for the spaces at this time.