Indeed. Like a few people I know, I don't mind a little Kraft Mac & Cheese now and again. I noticed recently that the CH Giant appeared to stop carrying the single-serving box (though they do have the five-pack, along with Spirals, Shrek-shape, and a few boxes of whole grain). Sent them an email & they confirmed that it had been discontinued.

Really? Shrek shapes are more popular than the standard variety?? I don't buy it. (Well, I did...)

i really don't have a problem with this. i don't need to choose from 10 different types of orange juice, wheat crackers, or string cheeses. hopefully it will make it easier to just get in and get out. without worrying if i got the most whitening-est toothpaste out of the 20 varieties available.

While it's no whole foods, and I don't want it to be, it is great for everyday shopping. I do 98% of my shopping at Giant. If they get rid of many of the things I buy, I will have to go elsewhere. I'll have to see if any of my regular items are white tagged.

First they start shrinking icecream packages without shrinking the price, and now this. This is a Giant mistake...

FYI eteeling -- Giant and Stop and Shop are owned by the same people.

I am a fervent member of the Church of Harris Teeter. Great store, great selection, happy employees and a speedy checkout. They're sometimes more expensive for some things, but generally around the same price as Giant or Safeway. I'll shop at Safeway in a pinch, but gave up on Giant a while ago.

I used to go to the Giant at Virginia Square, but their selection was so abysmal. The one down in Kingstowne near my wife's parents was always infinitely better after the renovation. Hence, if Giant is serious about "restructuring" maybe they oughta update their stores accordingly.

i used to live in sommer's neighborhood, and the shaw giant was my default store. now that i'm up in bloomingdale, i was spending more time at the rhode island ave. giant and the safeway across the tracks.

i went to harris teeter on opening day, and i went again yesterday. i'm just about 100% sure that i'm never shopping at giant and safeway again. fuck 'em. if they don't want to compete for my dollar, then i'm going to be a good little capitalist and take my dollar elsewhere. harris teeter has impressed the shit out of me. they have my business unless one of you can forcibly convince me otherwise.

Does this mean Giant is headed for the same bankruptcy demise as Kmart? Yikes. Stock up now, kids, Giant is going under. Their fruit always looks like crap anyway.

You should really consider taking the bus or the Metro to get to the other Giant, Sommer, instead of wasting money and adding one more car on the road.

I, too, have lived two blocks from the horrid O Street Giant since I moved to DC a year and a half ago. It's true that it's convenient to go to a store so nearby, but of the many gripes I have with the products, service, long lines, etc... my biggest problem is how NOBODY who works there ever has any idea where anything is, or whether they stock basic items. There was a period of time where I'd ask for something and on three separate occasions, different employees said "they rearranged the aisles, I don't know where that is." GOSH.

I notice my local smaller Safeway has killed off quite a few underselling products as well. But I can't even remember the last time I set foot in a Giant. I think Hillary and that chubby-chasing husband of hers were in office. If I wanted to be abused and ignored, I can get that for free at home.

This whole mess is too freaking little, too late. You can slap pancake makeup on an old mattressback whore but that ain't gonna turn her into Keeley Hazell. Between Shoppers, Teeter, and the Asian markets, relics like Giant don't stand a chance. Safeway is clinging on for dear life, but I have the feeling that between the cost of refurbing their stores along with rising labor costs and inflation, they might not be around in a decade. Giant is going the way of A&P, Hot Shoppes, and modesty.

MSto - If you think the Old Town Giant sucks, try the one in Del Ray. Four checkout aisles and you gotta try really hard to find anyone to man ANY of them. Years ago, I got into a line 5-people-deep while some checkout ijjit got into a 10-minute argument over the price of something. Meanwhile, people are just standing there like this is the norm. I put my booze back and walked out, never to return.

Frankly, I think that Giant (and Royal Ahold, by association) is shooting itself in the foot by cutting back on selection. Given the moves by Harris Teeter to blanket the greater DC area (lots of new stores opened in the past year, and more to open in the next year), plus the continuing expansion of Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, there's precious little room for becoming less useful as a supermarket. They're opening the doors for Safeway and Shopper's - more so the latter, to my view.

Frankly, I'd love to see Wegman's open a store within the District - that'd have Giant and Safeway truly shaking in their boots.

voteprime - I think we can all agree that Giant's "racks" have seen better days.

That said, four-out-of-five shoppers agree: ginormous chesticles enhance any grocery shopping experience, (that fifth shopper of course being gay). Although, I'm sure even he would appreciate a topless male cashier with ripped abs and muscular mantitties.

It really depends on where you go versus what your shopping experience is going to be like.

Working in Friendship Heights, I'm spoiled with Giant because they built the new on in Chevy Chase Center. And obviously, the one in Columbia Heights is great, both because of its size and how new it is.

Obviously the one on Wisconsin near the Cathedral is really ghetto, but it is smaller and hasn't been updated.

I'd advocate for Stop & Shop, but they are also a Royal Ahold company.

Wegman's is opening a store in Landover. Should be Metro accessible, if you're into long honking Metro rides.

Their store footprint prohibits an urban location, but if they really want to kick the other grocery chains asses, they'd start building smaller, scaled down "Wegmans On the Run" stores for urban markets.

@monkeyrotica:

i was waiting for someone to mention the "little Giant" in DelRay. i lived within walking distance from there, and would go often for the basics. i thought it was 'novel' that there were five different types of items in each aisle . . . everything from diapers to diced yams. but for someone who was making a good deal less than the average DCer, it was perfect.

by comparison, the giant on Washington Blvd near Ballston/VA Square isn't too shabby. big, clean, and less than HT or WholeFoods. we'll see how long i stay shopping there if they are cutting back on funky stuff.

To say Stop and Shop owns Giant, as a Masshole born and bred, Stop and Shop runs laps around Giant, it is kind of depressing they don't do a better job. Stop and Shops in MA are much more like Harris Teeter and even trying to cut into the Whole Foods scene, but this is not good news for Giant.

Working in Friendship Heights, I'm spoiled with Giant because they built the new on in Chevy Chase Center. And obviously, the one in Columbia Heights is great, both because of its size and how new it is.