chain founded memphis tennessee u.s. 1916 headquarters keene new hampshire u.s. area served midwestern southern u.s. parent c & s wholesale grocers website www.pigglywiggly.com piggly wiggly is an american supermarket chain operating in the midwestern and southern regions of the united states run by piggly wiggly llc an affiliate of c & s wholesale grocers . 1 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 . 2 currently more than 600 independently owned piggly wiggly stores operate in 17 states primarily in smaller cities and towns . piggly wiggly operations in the u.s. as of 2014 highlighted in blue and red contents 1 history 1.1 name 2 present company 3 see also 4 references 5 further reading 6 external links history edit historical marker near the site of the first piggly wiggly store in memphis tennessee . piggly wiggly was the first true self service grocery store . 3 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 . 4 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 . 5 piggly wiggly corporation secured the self service format and issued franchises to hundreds of grocery retailers for the operation of its stores . the concept of the self serving store was patented 6 by saunders in 1917 . customers at piggly wiggly entered the store through a turnstile and walked through four aisles to view the store s 605 items sold in packages and organized into departments . the customers selected merchandise as they continued through the maze to the cashier . instantly packaging and brand recognition became important to companies and consumers . the original piggly wiggly store memphis tennessee piggly wiggly was the first to provide checkout stands . 7 price mark every item in the store . 7 provide shopping carts for customers starting in the year 1937 in oklahoma . 8 the success of piggly wiggly was phenomenal so much so that other independent and chain grocery stores changed to self service in the 1920s and 1930s . at its peak in 1932 see clarence saunders the company operated 2 660 stores and posted annual sales in excess of 180 million . in november 1922 saunders attempted a squeeze on the substantial short interest in the stock running the share price up from 40 to 120 and profiting by millions on paper . the stock exchange governors responded by deciding that a corner had been established in piggly wiggly and removed the stock from the board eventually forcing saunders to turn over his assets to the banks that had financed his leveraged position . saunders reputedly lost nine million dollars in the attempted corner . 9 following these events the company was divided into strategic units and sold to regional grocery chains including kroger safeway national tea and colonial . 10 in 1935 all 179 canadian piggly wiggly were also sold to canada safeway which merged with sobeys in 2013 . citation needed after losing control of piggly wiggly saunders had no further association with the company although he remained interested in the concept of automated shopping which he experimented with initially with the keedoozle store until his death in 1953 . 11 the smaller piggly wiggly corporation continued to prosper as franchiser for the hundreds of independently owned grocery stores licensed to do business under the piggly wiggly name . during the decades following the 1920s divestment the company has operated successfully under a variety of owners . management of the toyota corporation were inspired by piggly wiggly s just in time inventory strategy and used this model to develop its toyota production system tps a philosophy by which the company organizes its manufacturing and logistics including its interactions with suppliers and customers . 12 name edit according to the piggly wiggly website saunders was reluctant to explain the origin of the company s name . there are two theories one story says that while riding a train he looked out his window and saw several little pigs struggling to get under a fence which prompted him to think of the rhyme . someone once asked him why he had chosen such an unusual name for his organization to which he replied so people will ask that very question . 11 present company edit fleming companies bought benson wholesale the owner of the piggly wiggly name in 1978 . 13 fleming filed for bankruptcy in 2003 and c & s wholesale grocers acquired most of the business including piggly wiggly . 14 15 a piggly wiggly store in owasso oklahoma in 2006 there are presently more than 600 independently owned and operated stores in 17 states . the company headquarters are located in keene new hampshire . 11 some of the stores have formed a retailers cooperative to manage distribution while using the piggly wiggly name e.g. piggly wiggly midwest piggly wiggly alabama distributing company and piggly wiggly carolina co. . piggly wiggly stores are found predominantly in medium to smaller size cities and remain a fixture in many rural communities . in many of the larger cities and more metropolitan areas within the company s territory especially in the faster growing regions competitive national grocery chains have built larger supermarkets with greater variety and selection than piggly wiggly targeting a more upscale clientele . in response piggly wiggly has developed a loyalty card discount membership program similar to many other national merchants . see also edit supermarkets in the united states houchens industries references edit fleischauer eric november 3 2009 . 2 decatur piggly wigglys to become food world stores . decatur daily . where it began ... . pigglywiggly.com . piggly wiggly llc . retrieved 2008 11 21 . see you at the piggly wiggly . pink palace family of museums . archived from the original on 2007 10 14 . retrieved 2007 10 22 . piggly wiggly a quick history of the supermarket us patent 1242872 c. saunders self serving store issued 1917 10 09 a b modern marvels the supermarket . history channel first broadcast november 15 2006 . shopping carts will track consumers every move . blogs.hbr.org . retrieved 2015 09 03 . business & finance piggly wiggly man . time . 1929 02 25 . retrieved 2010 05 22 . lebhar godfrey m. 1959 chain stores in america 1859 1959 colonial press 31 . a b c piggly wiggly about us . piggly wiggly llc . archived from the original on 2007 09 29 . retrieved 2007 10 22 . magee david november 2007 how toyota became 1 leadership lessons from the world s greatest car company portfolio hardcover isbn 978 1 59184 179 1 food chains bought by fleming . sarasota herald tribune . march 12 1974 . retrieved 2011 10 05 . hamstra mark 2003 . c & s only bidder for fleming assets some resale expected . supermarket news . zwiebach elliot 2003 . wholesaler exchange boosts both operations . supermarket news . further reading edit mike freeman clarence saunders and the founding of piggly wiggly the rise & fall of a memphis maverick 2011 excerpt external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to piggly wiggly . official website north carolina and virginia stores north carolina west virginia virginia and ohio stores south carolina stores louisiana stores illinois and wisconsin stores pink palace museum exhibit v t e supermarket chains in the united states kroger baker s supermarkets city market dillons food stores food 4 less foods co. fred meyer fry s food & drug gerbes super markets harris teeter jay c king soopers kroger owen s pay less super markets qfc ralphs roundy s pick n save mariano s metro market copp s ruler foods scott s smith s albertsons acme markets albertsons amigos carrs haggen jewel osco lucky market street pavilions randalls safeway shaw s and star market super saver tom thumb united supermarkets vons supervalu county market cub farm fresh hornbacher s save a lot shop n save shoppers ahold delhaize food lion giant carlisle giant landover hannaford brothers company martin s food markets stop & shop southeastern grocers bi lo fresco y m s harveys supermarkets winn dixie wakefern pricerite shoprite the fresh grocer other national chains aldi iga lidl target walmart regional chains asian 99 ranch market great wall supermarket h mart hong kong supermarket island pacific supermarket marina food marukai corporation u.s.a. mitsuwa marketplace nijiya market seafood city shun fat supermarket uwajimaya hispanic bravo el ahorro supermarket fiesta foods fiesta mart la perla tapat a supermarkets m s club mi pueblo food center supermercados teloloapan vallarta supermarkets organic earth fare natural grocers trader joe s whole foods market wholesale bj s wholesale club costco sam s club conventional acme fresh market amigo andronico s balducci s bashas best yet market big y boyer s food markets inc. bristol farms brookshire brothers brookshire grocery company buehler food markets inc. c town supermarkets cash & carry central market d & w fresh market dave s markets dean & deluca demoulas market basket dierbergs markets dorothy lane market easy way store econofoods family fare fairway market fareway festival foods festival foods minnesota food giant food city foodarama foodland foodland hawaii foodtown pathmark gelson s gerland corporation giant eagle grand mart gristedes grocery outlet harmons harps food stores h e b heinen s fine foods highland park market homeland houchens hugo s hy vee ingles inserra supermarkets jerry s foods jungle jim s international market karns quality foods key food super fresh the food emporium king kullen kings super markets kuhn s quality foods lewis food town lion supermarket lowe s market lowes foods lund food holdings magruder s marc s market basket market of choice marsh supermarkets martin s super markets meijer met foods minyard food stores miracle mart mollie stone s markets morton williams new deal supermarket new seasons market niemann foods no frills supermarkets nugget markets pcc natural markets petrini s piggly wiggly piggly wiggly carolina co. pink dot price chopper price mart price chopper supermarkets publix pueblo raley s supermarkets red owl redner s markets remke markets rice epicurean markets ridley s family markets roche bros. rosauers supermarkets rouses russ s market save mart supermarkets saverite schnucks scolari s food and drug seafood city sedano s sellers bros. sendik s food market sentry foods seven mile market shop n save smart & final spartannash sprouts farmers market stanley stores star market stater bros. stew leonard s strack & van til straub s markets sullivan family of companies super dollar discount foods super one foods super saver foods b & r stores the fresh market times supermarkets tops friendly markets united grocery outlet urm stores valu king victory supermarkets village market food center weaver street market wegmans weis markets westborn market western beef winco foods woodman s markets yoke s fresh market zabar s zupan s markets defunct banners a mart a &