The former Giant store in College Township has been empty since 2019. Here’s what’s coming

Discount retailer Ocean State Job Lot plans to put in a new 44,997-square-foot store in a former Giant grocery store space in College Township that has stood empty since 2019.

OSJL announced in a press release Tuesday that it purchased the Nittany Commons shopping center, a 117,995-square-foot location that houses Pep Boys, Get Air Trampoline Park, Olde New York and the former Giant space.

The store on 2222 E. College Ave. will be OSJL’s eighth Pennsylvania location and is planned to open this summer.

The Rhode Island-based discount retail chain has 147 locations in the Northeast with several more locations opening in the coming months.

“We are so pleased to announce our fourth new location in Pennsylvania this year,” Paul Cox, the company’s director of store operations, wrote in a press release. “We are committed to continued expansion throughout the Northeast and we could not be more excited to open our doors in such a great college town this summer.”

The location will bring 50 new jobs to the area including full-time and part time positions, the release stated.