And now, back to Piggly Wiggly

By Nardella A. Booko
Posted Tuesday, November 13, 2007

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Chatham County, NC - Many chatlisters have written that Piggly Wiggly is there to serve those who cannot afford to shop in stores such as Harris Teeter and Chatham MarketPlace. And decades ago, Piggly Wiggly was created to supply special types of Southern foods not available elsewhere. Does anyone really think that the same crowd is overseeing the current Piggly Wiggly? I was born in North Carolina and raised on "Southern food" and I have never felt that Piggly Wiggly was there for me. Nor that foods of poor quality were a bargain or good for me.

Please explain how higher prices for lower quality food is helping the poor? A quick survey of prices will show that in most cases, Piggly Wiggly is more expensive than Food Lion. I compared several prices in the new Pittsboro Piggly Wiggly and found that: Piggly Wiggly Mustard Greens were $1.49 lb and Food Lion is .99 cents per pound. P.W. Sardines $1.00, FL .79 cents. And so on down the line.

Piggly Wiggly opened on a Wednesday. I was there two days later and they already had a reduced produce table. How is that possible? How fresh could it have been when they opened? And many of the reduced items were showing signs of mildew and decay, especially the cucumbers.

On to the egg department! I never, ever pick up and pay for a carton of eggs without opening it and checking for broken eggs. That Friday, I opened eight cartons of eggs, each had at least one broken or damaged egg. I then attempted to take eggs from one and make up a full dozen of unbroken eggs. Many of the unbroken eggs were sticky and would not come out of the carton, I finally called the manager and he apparently didn't think it was a big deal. I ended up with a shabby looking collection of eggs and vowed never to try that again at Piggly Wiggly.

And guess what? Piggly Wiggly is going to cure Pittsboro's evil ways. They do not sell wine nor beer. No sir! But on the other hand, they have a specially built checkout counter for cigarettes, etc.

As far as canned and packaged goods, etc. the selection is very limited. The meat department is highlighted with all the unwanted animal parts that anyone could want.

Someone on the chatlist asked : "Who gives a rat's patootie about all the Piggly Wiggly stuff anyway?" Don't ask, if you don't want to know. Years ago, when Piggly Wiggly was located on Salisbury Street (current location of Chatham PTA Thrift Shop), if you got there just a opening time, you could usually find at least one clerk sweeping up around and under the racks holding popcorn, potato chips, etc. Cleaning up the mess that the rats had left after tearing open the plastic bags. May not have been "patootie" but was indeed disgusting.

Right now, the only thing Piggly Wiggly is doing, is making Food Lion look better, and that is not difficult. I know that the Megaphone has "spoken volumes" of praise for the old Piggly Wiggly in Savannah/ Charleston or where ever it was, but this ain't Savannah.

And Food Lion, before you rest on your laurels, you are far, far from the ideal grocery store. I have plenty more to say on that.