It was on this day in 1916 that Piggly Wiggly was founded! They were ahead of their time in a lot of ways – they were the very first self-service grocery store, they were the first to provide shopping carts for their customers, and they were the first company to use point of sale check out lanes for payment. They also offered a huge variety of products, 4 times more than other grocers.
Before Piggly Wiggly revolutionized the grocery business, grocery stores didn’t allow customers to shop for their items themselves. They’d simply give their list to a clerk, who would then do the shopping for them. Most food didn’t come prepackaged, so it would have to be weighed out and wrapped up by the clerks. Stores also didn’t post prices, so customers would have to haggle with the clerks to get a fair price. All of this of course made things very slow, labor intensive, and quite expensive. Piggly Wiggly’s innovations cut costs, lowered prices, and made for a better customer experience.
While shoplifting was a concern, losses were more than offset by impulse buys. Within just few months, the store had sold $80,000 more than the average grocer did in the same time period. At its peak in 1932, Piggly Wiggly was operating more than 2,600 stores with annual sales in excess of $180 million. Today, there are 499 independently owned stores in 18 states, mostly in small towns and cities across the South and Midwest. There is one Piggly Wiggly in New York, though! A store opened in Watertown last year.
As far as the name Piggly Wiggly, the founder was reluctant to disclose its origin. One story says that while riding a train, he saw some pigs struggling to get under a fence, which made him think of the rhyme. When asked why he chose such an unusual name, he simply said “So people will ask that very question.” Learn more here.