Piggly Wiggly Coming to Edmond
Piggly Wiggly store planned for Edmond
By Tricia Pemberton
The Oklahoman
Eagle Crest Market at Memorial Road and Bryant Avenue in Edmond is being rebranded into a Piggly Wiggly store.
The 34,000-square-foot grocery store is owned by Green Country Food Markets of Tulsa but will be part of the company's growing Piggly Wiggly presence in Oklahoma.
"Piggly Wiggly is a name a lot of people remember from their childhood, so there's a challenge and a responsibility to live up to that name. Plus when you've got a pig character on your banner, you have the opportunity to have a lot of fun," General Manager Tom Cleveland said.
Piggly Wiggly is a name that's been around since 1916, when Clarence Saunders opened the first self-service grocery store in Memphis, Tenn.
Until that time, grocery shoppers placed orders with clerks who gathered the merchandise.
Saunder's Piggly Wiggly stores revolutionized the grocery business by offering self-service open shelves and shopping carts.
Piggly Wiggly soon became an iconic name across Southern states. Today, more than 600 Piggly Wiggly stores operate in 16 states, all individually owned as franchises. Corporate headquarters is in Dallas.
Tulsa-based Green Country purchased the Edmond store in March from Tom Shea. The company also bought stores from Shea in Harrah and Bristow at the same time.
The company now owns seven Piggly Wiggly stores and one Carnival store -- most in the Tulsa area. The store in Bristow will be a Food Outlet.
Construction of an eighth Piggly Wiggly is under way in Perkins, with opening projected for September.
"Piggly Wiggly represents the hometown grocery store, with quality meats, a full variety of grocery items and an emphasis on customer service," Cleveland said.
"Changes will take place throughout all departments," Cleveland said.
Boarshead Meats will be added. The bakery and deli will be reopened with breads, cookies and cakes baked daily. The store also will add a barbecue smoker, and fried chicken to its deli menu, Cleveland said.
For now, Green Country will maintain the same number of employees, a figure Cleveland declined to disclose. "But we anticipate the need to increase the staff in the future," he said.
Eagle Crest Market opened in August after taking over the lease from Snyder's IGA. The store has gone through several incarnations in the last few years.
Toni Weinmeister, marketing and public relations director for the Edmond Economic Development Authority, said she's not sure why grocery stores have had a hard time in the area.
"There's plenty of residential around there," she said.
A demographic study shows 37,000 households within five miles of the intersection.
Cleveland said Green Country hopes the Piggly Wiggly concept will bring stability to the neighborhood.
Cleveland acknowledged, however, that it's a tough day in the grocery market, with Wal-Mart Supercenters and Neighborhood Markets drawing an ever tighter noose around the majority of the market share in this and other states.
"We don't chase the competition. We're respectful of what they're doing, we just make sure to do it just a little better," he said.
Green Country is interested in more expansion in the Oklahoma grocery market, Cleveland said.
"We just need to catch our breath right now, we've got three stores to remodel and one under construction," he said.
Originally Posted by Karried
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