Who knew? The first-ever Giant Food grocery store opened at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Park Road in Park View. That was three-quarters of a century ago. Today at noon, a few blocks to the west at Giant’s Tivoli location in Columbia Heights, members of Giant’s two founding families, the Cohens and Lehrmans, were expected to be on hand to cut a big 75th birthday cake, along with D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham, and members of Giant’s corporate team.

Today, Giant Foods is owned by a Dutch chain, Royal Ahold NV, which bought the local grocery chain as part of a $2.6 billion acquisition in 1998. Giant’s operations are headquartered in Landover and it has 179 stores in D.C., Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware.

For a quick walk memory lane, check out Giant’s old logo and this amusing film set to music about how great shopping at Giant supermarket was back in the 1950s.

Photo of the Giant supermarket at Wisconsin Avenue and Macomb Street NW by Flickr user Daquella manera using an Attribution 2.0 Generic Creative Commons license