Supermarkets in the District of Columbia

In Washington DC understanding locations of supermarkets is severely hampered by the business licensing structure; major chain supermarkets did not get grocery store licenses until recently. Rather they were required to get licenses for other activities and products such as cigarettes and deli. Safeway now has grocery store licenses for its locations, as does Trader Joe’s and Wal-mart; Whole Foods and Giant have a few but mostly not. There is no distinction in licensing between a small mom-and-pop grocery and a major chain. (And here it is major chains that I am including, excluding the smaller grocery stores.)

Some supermarkets or equivalents are housed in stores offering a larger variety of items–Target and Wal-mart. The only way to know DC’s supermarkets is to know them. A handy tool for lookups: Basic Business License Verification — only current licensees.

For much of the 20th century the only supermarkets were Giant and Safeway.
See: Giant (from Groceteria)
See: Safeway (from Groceteria)
Recently Whole Foods, then Trader Joe’s, then Harris Teeter (and Aldi) entered the market.

As far as locations, previously major supermarkets were stand-alone structures; of late they’ve been part of mixed-use residential commercial structures (still located along commercial corridors-highlighted in pale orange on the map).
A new Safeway will soon open at Georgia and Randolph NW in the Spring of 2014.

[Note–a reader pointed out I missed Costco. It has now been added to the map.]

Projected additions:
A Fresh Grocer has been suggested for Howard University Town Center
Harris Teeter at Georgia Eastern (Fall 2016)
Whole Foods for 6th & H Sts NE (2016)
Whole Foods 800 New Jersey Ave SE (2017)

Note: Supermarket tax incentives

Click for PDF of the Map

And note that there at District-serving supermarkets immediately adjacent in Maryland:
Shoppers
4801 Marlboro Pike
Coral Hills, MD 20743

Giant
5815 Eastern Ave
Hyattsville, MD 20782

Giant
1280 East-West Hwy #354
Silver Spring, MD 20910

Giant
5463 Wisconsin Ave
Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Whole Foods Market Friendship Heights
4420 Willard Ave
Chevy Chase, MD 20815

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Exterior view of Morris Miller’s Grocery, a member of the District Grocery Stores chain, Washington, D.C. – Date Created/Published: [ca. 1933] – LC-USZ62-32474