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Major chains as Piggly Wiggly franchisees

Posted: 18 Jun 2019 19:47
by Groceteria
Going back to the 1930s, I know that Safeway owned the Piggly Wiggly stores in much of the West Coast (as well as Hawaii and much of Canada) and the Kroger owned them in much of the Midwest. I've theorized that the big chains used these as a way to learn how to do self-service without necessarily doing it under their own names.

Anyone know of any other regions where a large chain was the Piggly Wiggly franchisee?

Re: Major chains as Piggly Wiggly franchisees

Posted: 18 Jun 2019 20:20
by Andrew T.
I can think of a few places in the midwest where Piggly Wiggly franchises were run by a medium-size company that quickly became part of a large company (Krambo > Kroger, Eisner > Jewel). But the midwest is already trodden ground...and outside of these and the Safeway/Kroger dichotomy, my mind draws a blank.

Were there ever any Piggly Wiggly stores in the northeast? None have surfaced in my research, so that's one place with wasted potential.

Re: Major chains as Piggly Wiggly franchisees

Posted: 18 Jun 2019 22:49
by Groceteria
Andrew T. wrote: 18 Jun 2019 20:20Were there ever any Piggly Wiggly stores in the northeast? None have surfaced in my research, so that's one place with wasted potential.
There was a reasonably large franchise in Rhode Island that evolved into the regional Almacs chain. I don't know of many others, unless you want to count the Sanitary/Safeway-owned stores in DC as "northeast."