Piggly Wiggly Selling Stores

In many communities across South Carolina and Georgia, the Piggly Wiggly brand will soon be no more.

The Charleston-based retailer on Thursday announced plans to sell 29 Piggly Wiggly stores to Bi-Lo and Harris Teeter. In statement, the company said a recent wave of grocery store mergers and acquisitions created the perfect time to sell.

"The environment that has heated up dramatically in the past six months in the grocery industry with mergers and acquisitions created an opportunity for us to ensure the value of our employee-owned company,” Piggly Wiggly spokesman Christopher Ibsen told the Post and Courier. 

The Pig will sell six locations, plus the store under construction on Isle of Palms, to Harris Teeter. Twenty two other stores will be sold to Greenville-based BI-LO.

Here are the Charleston-area stores impacted by the sales:

Sold to Harris Teeter
#10 Mt. Pleasant, SC 1220 Ben Sawyer Blvd.
#14 James Island, SC1739 Maybank Hwy.
#17 Folly Beach, SC1985 Folly Rd.
#26 James Island, SC 1005 Harborview Rd.
#42 Mt. Pleasant, SC 1981 Riviera Dr
#140 Johns Island, SCNewton Farms130 Gardeners Cir
Isle of Palms (Under Construction), 1505 Palm Blvd.

Sold to BI-LO
#1 Charleston, SC 445 Meeting St.
#8 Charleston, SC 630 Skylark Dr.
#20 Pawleys Island, SC 115 Willbrook Blvd.
#41 Ladson, SC 9616 Hwy. 78
#73 Edisto Beach, SC 104 Jungle Rd.
#103 Johns Island, SC3575 Maybank Hwy.

Piggly Wiggly did not disclose the sale price, but said the stores will rapidly transition to their new brands over the next few months. Current employees will be offered positions with the new owners.

"The departure of employees and stores from the Piggly Wiggly team will be acutely felt, but we know that both Harris Teeter and Bi-Lo will benefit from these outstanding folks," said David Schools, president and CEO of Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company. “We are glad that all store employees affected by this transaction will have the opportunity to work for Harris Teeter and BI-LO."

The sales are part of a wave of recent consolidations in the grocery store business. In December 2011, BI-LO and Winn-Dixie merged operations. In July, Kroger announced it would purchase Harris Teeter. And earlier this year, BI-LO also announced plans to buy Harvey's and Food Lion.

Over the last decade, grocers have seen their market share evaporate as Walmart entered the grocery store business. A wave of store closures and bankruptcies have swept the industry in recent years.

Founded in 1947, Piggly Wiggly is one of the South's most storied brands. Before the sales announced on Thursday, The Pig operated 100 supermarkets with roughly 3,000 employees across South Carolina and Coastal Georgia.