Park View, D.C.

Today, the structure at 3400 Georgia Avenue is occupied by Murry's

As I’ve written about before, Park View’s stretch of Georgia Avenue has a rich history when it comes to markets and grocery stores. One building that is a part of that thread is the brick-and-cinderblock building located at 3400 Georgia Avenue. Today it is occupied by Murry’s.

The A&P Super Market in October, 1949

When the building was first constructed it was home to an A&P supermarket. Customers were able to begin shopping there on October 10, 1941. A&P stores were open until 6 p.m., but stayed open later on Fridays and Saturdays. The store also advertised free parking. A&P was located on this corner until 1951.

Less than two months after A&P opened, the United States entered World War II. Food rationing and shortages became a daily reality. Even when the war ended in 1945 it would still take some time before food supplies would return to their prewar availability.

Shoppers croweded the Park View A&P in July, 1946, when meat was again plentiful

The first week of July, 1946, was particularly exciting to grocery shoppers at Washington A&P stores. They were jammed with customers when the chain was able to offer the largest supply of meat seen in the city in over six months.

Crowds packed A&P stores, including the one at 3400 Georgia Avenue, NW, which promised steady, regular meat supplies as long as Office of Price Administration (OPA) controls remained off. Commenting on the meat supply, Raymond C. Briggs, president of L.S. Briggs, Inc., said “it looks like everybody will have all they want of the best grades in many years if the industry remains unhampered by controls … prices will take care of themselves when there is more than enough meat to meet the demand.”

The OPA had been established in 1941 to control prices and rents after the outbreak of World War II. A&P shoppers were as excited by the opportunity to buy meat at OPA prices or below as they were by the quantity of meat being offered.