GIANT VALUE Displaced Letters

Browsing the SF Historical Photo Collection, I saw this cerca 1975 picture of the Giant Value building on 22nd and Mission.

First, I noticed the cool pinstripe paint job on the façade. Then something else occurred to me: the word “GIANT” is actually in a different place than it is today. At some point, whoever took over the building moved it over to the left and added the word “VALUE” after it.

Here is a picture of the building as it stands today:

So the question remains, what was it before it was “GIANT VALUE”? ”VALUE GIANT”? “MOVIE GIANT”? “THE GIANT”? Surely, someone who was here before 1975 can provide the answer. Ha! Yeah right… most of you weren’t even BORN in 1975.

In any case, it will probably be CONDO GIANT in a couple of years.

Update: Burrito Justice Johnny0 to the rescue again (there’s a shocker):

It had changed to its current incantation by 1982 when it was “Giant Value Pharmacy”.

A bit more judicious googling shows us that PayLess bought out the “Value Giant” store chain in 1976. I bet that PayLess didn’t take keep our Mission store, and in order to keep lawyers happy, that particular pharmacy flipped the sign around to read “Giant Value” — pretty damn clever.

16 Responses to “GIANT VALUE Displaced Letters”

  1. johnny0 says:

    Nice detective work, Mr. Wong.

    It had changed to its current incantation by 1982 when it was “Giant Value Pharmacy”.

    A bit more judicious googling shows us that PayLess bought out the “Value Giant” store chain in 1976. I bet that PayLess didn’t take keep our Mission store, and in order to keep lawyers happy, that particular pharmacy flipped the sign around to read “Giant Value” — pretty damn clever.

  2. johnny0 says:

    Also some very cool photos of that block from 1920 and 1930 on the American Classic Images site.

    And you might want to check out my Mission theater history article from a while back.

  3. sad says:

    worst… post… ever…

  4. 24steel says:

    it’s ‘circa’ not ‘cerca’ aiight?

  5. Nick Pal says:

    It’s “incarnation” not “incantation” right?

  6. Lilz says:

    this place would make a GREAT DATE SPOT.

  7. Jeff says:

    Other good choices for the next time they rearrange the letters:

    Vagina Lute
    A Gaunt Evil
    Guava Inlet
    Evaluating

  8. Martin Frobisher says:

    Giant Value is dead. Long live Giant Value!
    http://www.giantvalue.net/