Washington Metro Tests Grocery Pick-Up

Pilot with Peapod by Giant Foods is testing grocery pick-up for evening commuters at three Metro stations.

February 02, 2016

WASHINGTON – Online grocery delivery service Peapod and the Metro public transportation service throughout the Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland metro areas have teamed up for a six-month pilot that allows commuters to pick up online grocery orders as they exit Metro stations.

The Washington Post reports that Peapod by Giant has set up three distribution areas at the Fort Totten (D.C.), Glenmont (MD) and Vienna (VA) Metro stations, noting that if the trial is successful, it could expand into other locations throughout the 91-station Metro system.

For Landover, Maryland-based Giant Food, transit stations are “new territory” for the grocery chain, and a new opportunity to expand its Peapod pick-up and home-delivery services.

“Everybody’s lives are just so busy and just continue to get busier,” Elizabeth Psaros, senior manager of regional marketing for Peapod, told the Post, adding, “Being able to shop anywhere and anytime and have the convenience of getting it delivered to your door or being able to pick it up at a store and now at these three transit stations—we think it’s a life saver.”

Metro riders who use the service can pick up their online orders between 4 pm and 7 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Peapod delivers the orders to pods set up at each station and an on-site attendant distributes the groceries to customers. The Post notes that no money changes hands and no food is stored overnight.

“If you are commuting you know you are going to be on the bus or the train and you know you are going to get to the station and then get in your car,” Psaros told the news source, adding, “And so what a great option to be able to order your groceries and then pick them up on your way home, not even having to make that additional stop or even think about it,” she said. “It’s another way of saving time.”

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