The New Giant Eagle Marketplace Columbus Ohio!

Well it finally opened in Upper Arlington Ohio. Was it worth the wait and Hype? Absolutely! 400 types of cheese alone. Full grill with dry aged steaks. Several cooked to order stations including a great pizza and you know how tough I am when it comes to that. Olive Bar and Olive Oil station is first class. Seafood area has a great selection. I could go on and on. While it is not in the league of Jungle Jim's in Cincinnatti it is by far 2nd best in the state of Ohio. For those of you who live in Columbus make sure you stop in and look around. This is only the third one of its kind and the other two are in Pennsylvania. Go Hungry and bring your Wallet....Russ

They've said they're going to expand the one here in Gahanna into a Marketplace.

I made the BIG mistake of going on opening day.  The guy from Man vs Food was there (not that we could get anywhere near where he was but we could hear him) so it was really hard to walk around and explore.  But from what I saw I will be a regular shopper there as well.  They had a ton of samples out and everything I tried was really good.  It seems a lot like a Whole Foods (not the small one in UA but the big one up on Sawmill) but not quite as expensive. 

Shades of Wegmans!
 
This page has videos and photos of the new store in Ohio:
http://www.multivu.com/players/English/46124-market-district-kingsdale-launch/ 
 
ADDENDUM:
I consider these 00's marketplaces to be a "roadside attraction" worthy of a visit even if you don't buy anything. You might get a smile or two. I visted a Wegman's in Virginia that had a counter that served cooked food and draft micro-brew beers. Right in the middle of a supermarket!
Giant Eagle's Market District has some videos and photos of these stores here:
http://www.marketdistrict.com/

The ones that have already opened here in Pittsburgh are doing extremely well.  I know people who drive a half hour just to do their grocery shopping there.

Hatteras, I was there opening day as well. Adam Richman was about a half hour late coming out, but I got a decent photo of him signing autographs. Oh, I also got a free flu shot at the clinic. Saved me what, $25? I didn't stay too long due to the masses of people. But I went back about three hours later figuring all the ManvFood people would be gone and he was STILL there signing autographs and posing for pictures. Very kind of him IMO. As for the store, I was thoroughly impressed. Just the cheese alone! My God, the cheese!! I was driving by yesterday and stopped in for a few things and was surprised to see about as many samples available as on opening day.

I've kind of changed my opinion of this store a little.  It's still a good store but I don't think it is quite up to the Whole Foods, Jungle Jims category.   There are some parts of it that are great - the cheese section, dry aged prime beef, a cool olive oil section to name a few.  However, some of the sections are just regular grocery store items presented in a nice glass case.  The bakery for example has a whole wall of donuts and pastries.  But they are just regular Giant Eagle donuts no better than any of their other stores.
 
We also tried one of the hot foods bars and got some very mediocre Indian food.  The sauce was way too sweet and the chicken was all dark meat and dry.
 
Some of the prepared foods and dips were very good and I have yet to try things like the gelato or sushi which both look good.
 
So I like it and will shop there some but by and large it is mostly just a really nice Giant Eagle and not worth fighting the parking and crowds for every day shopping.   

I wish we had one in Knoxville.
 
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN