Giant Food, the region's dominant grocer, said Thursday it had the highest sales growth in many years as it started to see the results of store renovations, lower prices and more people eating at home. The Landover-based grocer reported a first quarter sales increase of 3.6 percent, despite lower pharmacy sales.

The results were included in a first quarter earnings report issued by Giant's parent company, Dutch grocer Ahold. Ahold said in the release that Giant's sales in combination with the sales of its sister company, Massachusetts-based Stop & Shop, helped the company gain market share in what has become an increasingly competitive grocery market.

Operating income at the two grocers was $242 million, an increase of $40 million from a year ago.