Giant plans to open a new supermarket at the South Mall, Lehigh Street, Salisbury Township.

The store is expected to be on the site of a former department store operated by The Bon-Ton.

Giant would close its store at South Mountain Shopping Center, West Emmaus Avenue and South 31st Street, Allentown.

“After 35 years at our current location on West Emmaus Avenue, it’s time to grow our store footprint and move a little further up the road,” John Ruane, president, The Giant Company, said in a Nov. 14 news release.

“A larger and updated store will allow us to offer our Allentown area families the latest amenities while underscoring our commitment to providing our customers with great value, the best quality and friendly service they’ve come to expect from Giant,” Ruane said.

The Giant Company, headquartered in Carlisle, Cumberland County, in the news release, said the facility would be a new store and fuel station in the township.

The “new, ground up, approximately 68,000-square-foot store is a redevelopment of a vacated section within the South Mall Shopping Center,” the news release stated.

“Upon completion, the company’s current store and fuel facility located at 3015 W. Emmaus Ave. in Allentown will close,” the news release stated.

“Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin in 2025 subject to obtaining all of the necessary permits and approvals. Specific store amenities and employment opportunities, as well as opening date, will be shared at a later date,” the news release stated.

Kerry Rabold, planning and zoning officer, floodplain administrator, Salisbury Township, in an email response to a question from a reporter for The Press, said a sketch plan for the project was submitted to the township office.

The project may be zoning-compliant and not need to be presented to the Salisbury Township Zoning Hearing Board.

The project is expected be reviewed at a public meeting of the Salisbury Township Planning Commission. The meeting date for a possible township review has not been announced.

“Once a formal submission is made, I will conduct a thorough review,” Rabold said in the email to The Press.

Sandy Nicolo, assistant township manager, director, community development, Salisbury Township, in an email response to a question from a reporter for The Press said demolition of The Bon-Ton store portion of the South Mall is likely.

“They are going to demolish The Bon-Ton and rebuild in that space. The existing Bon-Ton building columns do not meet Giant store aisle-width standards,” Nicolo said in the email to The Press.

“The new building may be slightly smaller than the existing with size reduction being off the rear of the building. They are redesigning the parking lot for better flow and building a gas station behind the Firestone [store] on the City of Allentown side of the existing parking lot,” Nicolo said in the email.

Cathy Bonaskiewich, township manager, Salisbury Township, in an email response to a question from a reporter for The Press, said tax revenue for the township from the new Giant store is uncertain.

“It’s hard to estimate at this point what, if any, increase in real estate taxes we might see. This would solely be due to an increased assessment by Lehigh County, so that remains to be seen,” Bonaskiewich stated in the email to The Press.

“Other than that, we might benefit from the local services tax of the individuals who will be employed by Giant at that location. That equates to $52 per employee per year, with $10 of that going to Salisbury Township School District. Any business privilege tax would go to the school district,” Bonaskiewich said in the email.

The Giant Company operates seven stores and employs more than 1,400 in Lehigh County, according to the company’s news release.

Giant has stores in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and New Jersey with 35,000 employees in 193 stores, 133 pharmacies, 107 fuel stations and more than 80 online pickup hubs and a grocery delivery service.

Founded in 1923 in Carlisle, The Giant Company includes Giant, Martin’s, Giant Heirloom Market, Giant Direct and Martin’s Direct.

The Giant Company is a company of Ahold Delhaize USA.