Piggly Wiggly
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| Private | |
| Industry | Supermarket chain |
| Founded | Memphis, Tennessee, U.S. (1916) |
| Headquarters | Keene, New Hampshire, U.S. |
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Area served
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Midwestern/Southern U.S. |
| Parent | C&S Wholesale Grocers |
| Website | www |
Piggly Wiggly is an American supermarket chain operating in the Southern and Midwestern regions of the United States, run by Piggly Wiggly, LLC, an affiliate of C&S Wholesale Grocers. Its first outlet opened in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee, and is notable for having been the first true self-service grocery store, and the originator of various familiar supermarket features such as checkout stands, individual item price marking and shopping carts. The current company headquarters is in Keene, New Hampshire. Currently, more than 600 independently owned Piggly Wiggly stores operate in 17 states, primarily in smaller cities and towns.
Piggly Wiggly was the first true self-service grocery store. 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 built as his private residence, which was later sold to the city.
At the time of its founding, grocery stores did not allow their customers to gather their own goods. Instead, a customer would give a list of items to a clerk, who would then go through the store himself, gathering them. Like full-service gas stations, this created a greater cost, therefore higher prices. Piggly Wiggly introduced the innovation of allowing customers to go through the store, gathering their own goods. This cut costs, allowing for lower prices. Others were initially experimenting with this format as well, which initially came to be known as a "grocerteria", reminding people of cafeterias, another relatively new, self-service idea.
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Wikipedia