Wisconsin Giant goes from “modern” to outdated
People in Cleveland Park are so eager for the dilapidated Wisconsin Giant to be replaced by a new mixed-use development. Even project opponent Phil Mendelson called it a “third world grocery”. But in the 1950s, this was “Washington’s newest, most excitingly beautiful food department store.”
DCist commenter “DCRez” posted this amazing ad from the store’s opening:
The ad calls the store “Another of the city’s most modern, streamlined Giant Food Department Stores, surrounded by acres of free parking—the latest example of 20th Century food store operation … You’ll find every facility: wide aisles and air-conditioning.”
It was one of 24 Giants in DC, Arlington and Alexandria at the time. There were four Giants east of the Anacostia at that time; now there is one, which just opened in 2007 after a decade of having no supermarkets at all. Meanwhile, current stores in Shaw and Columbia Heights didn’t exist.