| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Supermarket chain |
| Founded | Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. (1916) |
| Headquarters | Keene, New Hampshire, U.S. |
| Area served | Midwestern/Southern U.S. |
| Parent | C&S Wholesale Grocers |
| Website | pigglywiggly.com |
Piggly Wiggly is a supermarket chain operating in the Midwestern and Southern regions of the United States, run by Piggly Wiggly, LLC, an affiliate of C&S Wholesale Grocers.[1] The current company headquarters is in Keene, New Hampshire.[2]
Piggly Wiggly was founded on September 6, 1916 at 79 Jefferson Street in Memphis, Tennessee, by the American entrepreneur Clarence Saunders. It was the first true self-service grocery store, a concept patented[3] by Saunders in 1917. Because customers could choose their products directly, packaging and brand recognition became very important. Other grocers soon adopted the self-service format. At its peak in 1932 (see Clarence Saunders), the company was operating 2,660 stores and posting sales of $180 million a year. In the 1920s, however, the company was taken over and its stores subsequently were divested and sold to various other regional grocery companies. Presently, more than 600 independently owned Piggly Wiggly stores operate in 17 states, primarily in smaller cities and towns.
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Piggly Wiggly was the first true self-service grocery store.[4] It was founded on September 6, 1916, at 79 Jefferson Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, by Clarence Saunders. A replica of the original store has been constructed in the Memphis Pink Palace Museum and Planetarium, a mansion that Saunders initially built as his private residence but was later sold to the city.
Piggly Wiggly Corporation secured the self-service format and issued franchises to hundreds of grocery retailers for the operation of its stores. The concept of the "self-serving store" was patented[3] by Saunders in 1917. Customers at Piggly Wiggly entered the store through a turnstile and walked through four aisles to view the store’s 605 items sold in packages and organized into departments. The customers selected merchandise as they continued through the maze to the cashier. Instantly, packaging and brand recognition became important to companies and consumers.
Piggly Wiggly was the first to:
The success of Piggly Wiggly was phenomenal, so much so that other independent and chain grocery stores changed to self-service in the 1920s and 1930s. At its peak in 1932 (see Clarence Saunders), the company operated 2,660 stores and posted annual sales in excess of $180 million. In November 1922, Saunders attempted a squeeze on the substantial short interest in the stock, running the share price up from 40 to 120 and profiting by millions on paper. The Stock Exchange Governors responded by deciding that a corner had been established in Piggly Wiggly and removed the stock from the Board eventually forcing Saunders to turn over his assets to the banks that had financed his leveraged position. Saunders reputedly lost nine million dollars in the attempted corner.[7]
Following these events, the company was divided into strategic units and sold to regional grocery chains, including Kroger, Safeway, National Tea, and Colonial.[8]
After losing control of Piggly Wiggly, Saunders had no further association with the company although he remained interested in the concept of automated shopping which he experimented with initially with the Keedoozle store until his death in 1953.[9]
The smaller Piggly Wiggly Corporation continued to prosper as franchiser for the hundreds of independently owned grocery stores licensed to do business under the Piggly Wiggly name. During the decades following the 1920s divestment, the company has operated successfully under a variety of owners.
Management of the Toyota Corporation were inspired by Piggly Wiggly's Just-in-time inventory strategy and used this model to develop its Toyota Production System (TPS), a philosophy by which the company organizes its manufacturing and logistics, including its interactions with suppliers and customers.[10]
Fleming Companies bought Benson Wholesale, the owner of the Piggly Wiggly name, in 1978[11]. Fleming filed for bankruptcy in 2003, and C&S Wholesale Grocers acquired most of the business, including Piggly Wiggly.[12][13]
There are presently more than 600 independently owned and operated stores in 17 states. The company headquarters are located in Keene, New Hampshire.[9] Some of the stores have formed a retailers' cooperative to manage distribution, while using the Piggly Wiggly name (e.g., Piggly Wiggly Alabama Distributing Company, and Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co.). Piggly Wiggly stores are found predominantly in medium, to smaller, sized cities and towns and remain a fixture in many rural communities. In many of the larger cities and more metropolitan areas within the company's territory (especially in the faster growing regions), competitive national grocery chains have built larger supermarkets with greater variety and selection than Piggly Wiggly, targeting a more upscale clientele. In response, Piggly Wiggly has developed a loyalty card discount membership program similar to many other national merchants.