NT - Need Bread?

[JohnH]

Anyone who has ever visited the beaches in South Carolina knows about the Piggly Wiggly supermarkets. So as a public service, I just want to let you know that if you're ever in the Piggly Wiggly at Hilton Head Island, SC, you can find bread (and other essentials) on Aisle 10.

[Margaret CPA in OH]

I laughed out loud at this one...hilarious. Guess they calls 'em as they sees 'em.

[rfassett]

Had a Piggly Wiggly in Rootstown Ohio when my wife and I were first married and it was our favorite grocery store. OK - it was the ONLY grocery store but still - it was our favorite.

Very funny!!!

[kcjenkins]

Hilarious sign, thanks for sharing that. By the way, how many of you know that Piggly Wiggly was actually the FIRST self-serve grocery store?

Piggly Wiggly®, America's first true self-service grocery store, was founded in Memphis, Tenn. in 1916 by Clarence Saunders. In grocery stores of that time, shoppers presented their orders to clerks who gathered the goods from the store shelves. 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.

Despite predictions that this novel idea would fail, Saunders’ first store opened September 6, 1916 at 79 Jefferson Street in Memphis. Operating under the unusual name Piggly Wiggly, it was unlike any other grocery store of that time. There were shopping baskets, open shelves and no clerks to shop for the customer – all unheard of!

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.

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. 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.

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.

Piggly Wiggly was the FIRST to…

• provide checkout stands.
• price mark every item in the store.
• give shoppers more for their food dollar through high volume/low profit margin retailing.
• feature a full line of nationally advertised brands.
• use refrigerated cases to keep produce fresher longer.
• put employees in uniforms for cleaner, more sanitary food handling.
• design and use patented fixtures and equipment throughout the store.
• franchise independent grocers to operate under the self-service method of food merchandising.

If you are ever in Memphis, go out and visit the Pink Palace Museum, which is housed in Saunders' beautiful former home. It's well worth a visit.

[joanmcq]

Ok, that was my first literal laugh out loud today!