Jitney Jungle

Jitney Jungle was a chain of supermarkets that began in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1919. It was acquired by Winn-Dixie in 2000.

Originally, brothers Judson McCarty Holman and William Henry Holman and their cousin William Bonner McCarty founded a charge-and-carry grocery store in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1912. Over the next few years, they opened additional stores, but in 1916, one of their stores found itself unable to collect the amounts owed by some of its customers, and the idea of changing over to a cash-and-carry business model began to take root. While W. H. Holman was away serving in World War I, his brother and cousin decided to change over to cash-and-carry, and after he returned from the war, they opened the first Jitney Jungle on East Capitol Street in Jackson on 19 April 1919.

The three patented the Jitney Jungle concept in 1920, but were soon hit with a patent infringement lawsuit brought by Piggly Wiggly. To disprove the infringement allegations, Will McCarty made a trip west and found cash-and-carry stores there, which contradicted Piggly Wiggly's assertion that it had originated the idea. The Supreme Court found in Jitney Jungle's favor.

The chain gradually expanded across Mississippi and into neighboring states, eventually ending up with stores as far away as Florida. In 1973 the chain had 38 grocery stores, six gasoline stations, and five drugstores, and by 1992, Jitney Jungle had over 100 stores

In the 1960s, a convenience store subsidiary, Jr. Food Mart, was formed. All the Jr. Food Mart stores sold gasoline and groceries. The subsidiary is still in operation. Many of the stores have fast service restaurants featuring the popular Creole Fried Chicken. Jr. Food Mart operates convenience stores in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, and formerly operated locations in Arkansas as well.

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