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.

David Alpert created Greater Greater Washington in 2008 and was its executive director until 2020. He formerly worked in tech and has lived in the Boston, San Francisco Bay, and New York metro areas in addition to Washington, DC. He lives with his wife and two children in Dupont Circle.