

One story is that he saw from a train window several little pigs struggling to get under a fence, and the rhyming name occurred to him then. Saunders’ reason for choosing the intriguing name Piggly Wiggly ® remains a mystery he was curiously reluctant to explain its origin. Piggly Wiggly Corporation continued to prosper as franchiser for the hundreds of independently owned grocery stores allowed to operate under the Piggly Wiggly name and during the next several decades, functioned successfully under various owners.
#Who owns piggly wiggly series#
The stock was successfully traded on the New York Stock Exchange for some time, but through a series of stock transactions in the early 1920s, Saunders lost control of Piggly Wiggly and had no further association with the company. The original Piggly Wiggly Corporation became owner of all Piggly Wiggly properties: the name, the patents, etc., and Saunders began issuing stock in the Corporation. Piggly Wiggly Corporation, established by Saunders when he opened the first store in Memphis, secured the self-service format and issued franchises to hundreds of grocery retailers for the operation of Piggly Wiggly stores. There were shopping baskets, open shelves and no clerks to shop for the customer – all unheard of! Operating under the unusual name Piggly Wiggly, it was unlike any other grocery store of that time. Saunders, a flamboyant and innovative man, noticed that this method resulted in wasted time and expense, so he came up with an unheard-of solution that would revolutionize the entire grocery industry: he developed a way for shoppers to serve themselves.ĭespite predictions that this novel idea would fail, Saunders’ first store opened Septemat 79 Jefferson Street in Memphis. In grocery stores of that time, shoppers presented their orders to clerks who gathered the goods from the store shelves. Piggly Wiggly®, America’s first true self-service grocery store, was founded in Memphis, Tenn. We have many departments with the highest quality products. If you need anything please ask one of our team members, and we will take care of you. We pride ourselves on great customer service.
#Who owns piggly wiggly full#
We are a locally owned full service grocery store.
