Piggly Wiggly #97, 7451 Garners Ferry Road: 20 July 2013 18 comments
Well this has been talked to death in the comments to the point that I can't recall who deserves the initial Hat Tip, but I finally made it inside the Garners Ferry Pig on Monday 15 July. There are certainly some deals to be had there if, for instance, you need to restock your spice rack. I actually picked up some Hickory Farms summer sausage (somehow they managed to lose their historical Beefstick trademark.. which will be nice on sandwiches during the upcoming vacation. I also got a disposable underwater camera, and should have got some batteries.
Commenter Dustin points to this story on local grocery closings in The State. According to them, Piggly Wiggly corporate simply says "Our lease came to an end". While I don't doubt that, I do doubt that that's *all* of it. Perhaps I'm wrong, and something else will move into this space immediately after The Pig vacates, but I strongly suspect that it will remain vacant for an extended time -- something that would have given the store a good bit of leverage in any negotiations. At any rate, with the recent renovation of their old home at Garners Ferry Square, the decision to put so much effort in moving out of there for such a relatively short period (they closed there on 8 July 2001, almost exactly 12 years ago) has to seem less than optimal in hindsight:
UPDATE -- One man's loss is another's gain:
UPDATE 21 September 2013 -- Here are some pix from 31 July 2013. You can see that the place is up for lease, so there was in fact no tenant in the wings. That should have given The Pig pretty good leverage on the lease terms, so I guess they really just didn't want to stay:
18 Responses to 'Piggly Wiggly #97, 7451 Garners Ferry Road: 20 July 2013'
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sean
16 Jul 13 at 11:57 pm
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Karen is the commenter that the hat tip for this one goes to...
@Sean this was once a Harris Teeter...they sold their 4 locations to Piggly Wiggly in 2001. Of those locations, the only one still going is the one at 4711 Forest Drive (Forest Park).
Like you, I'd welcome Harris Teeter back with open arms. Heck, if one opened up in Columbia, I'd most likely set foot in it on the day it opens (I'd be that excited). I wrote their corporate years ago to recommend they return to Columbia but got a response along the lines of, "we have no plans to reutnr to Columbia but will forward your request to our real estate department"
Be that as it may, it's been noted that Kroger plans to purchase Harris Teeter and I gather that it would complicate prospects of Harris Teeter returning to Columbia.
Winn Dixie has been bought by Bi-Lo and I have a dream of them re-branding as Winn-Dixie as that name has a greater sophistication to it...
Andrew
17 Jul 13 at 1:23 am
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This was originally a Bruno's Supermarket. I think it opened around 1993 or 1994. Here is a link to their Wikipedia page...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruno%27s_SupermarketsDavid
17 Jul 13 at 8:19 am
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Wonder if they are gonna sell the fixtures. I could use those shelves in my garage.
Sidney
17 Jul 13 at 10:17 am
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Sidney, I noticed that several fixtures were slated to be shipped to other Piggly Wiggly locations...
Andrew
17 Jul 13 at 8:58 pm
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My wife and I shopped at this piggly wiggly about 4 or 5 times during 2012, the only times we've ever shopped at that location. It wasn't great, but it was by no means bad. We always went on Sundays and it was never crowded (which that seems to be the busiest grocery day), that should've been a sign. We do like the location closer into town on Devine Street, that is a more "upscale" (for lack of a better term) Piggly Wiggly location....
Ryan G
19 Jul 13 at 3:11 pm
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I shopped at the Piggly Wiggly in Cayce yesterday just because I was oming back into town from that direction and too lazy to drive down to Bi-Lo or Reid's. And let me say, I was really not impressed with the Pig out there at all. Can't remembe the last time I shopped at one, but I remember the few times I went in to the one on Garners-Ferry, it was much better than the one in Cayce, which, I won't be returning to any time soon.
26 Jul 13 at 9:19 am
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I went to the Piggly Wiggly at Cayce Crossing this past Spring and I got a dirty vibe about it. I think I let Mr Bill saying on one of the other Piggly Wiggly pages here, "I've always thought the pig seemed dirty no matter what location." cloud my perception of it...but it started me thinking that Piggly Wiggly is slower to adapt to grocery trends the way Bi-Lo and Publix have. Couple that with a former Piggly Wiggly employee on the Irmo Piggly Wiggly page indicating that Piggly Wiggly is a dying grocery chain and I guess I'm having a hard time seeing them in the most positive of light...
Andrew
26 Jul 13 at 1:19 pm
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I used to live off of Fish Hatchery Rd and the Piggly Wiggly at Cayce Crossing was actually pretty nice when it first opened, but I haven't been there in years. At the time it opened, however my only other close option was the IGA in Gaston so maybe that's why it seemed like such a luxury.
TahoeChic
26 Jul 13 at 1:51 pm
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I read this closing nearly two months after the store's closing and Thursday's announcement Piggly Wiggly Carolina intends to divest 29 stores in South Carolina and Georgia, 22 to Bi-Lo Holdings and 9 to Harris Teeter. (Bi-Lo announced Friday plans to divest seven Charlotte regional stores to Publix.) This store is another example of struggling to compete with Publix, Bi-Lo, Food Lion in some cases and Walmart.
I do not expect this location to go vacant for long. Publix has been looking for a location on Garner's Ferry Road for a future store. Quick renovations and being move in ready would make the location ripe for a grocery/pharmacy tenant.
Tiger
15 Sep 13 at 2:28 pm
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i read that too our last piggly wiggly on ladson rd is changing to bi-lo so the pig must really be struggleing if there selling store to harris teeter or bi-lo i think the pig gonna die out around the state including store in georgia have been affected
sean
15 Sep 13 at 6:13 pm
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I lived right down the road from this store. The only time I went there was when I needed to pick up one or two things. The high prices, shabby feeling of the store, lack of quality in the meat department and the quick decline of the area totally turned me off. I would go to Publix all the way over on Rosewood or to BI-LO to do our regular grocery shopping. Not a surprise to me at all that this place closed down. Richland county needs to take a hard look at what southeast Columbia has become. It's scary out there!
Sarah
27 Sep 13 at 10:00 am
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On the heels of this store closing, I have found out that Piggly Wiggly #86 at Mills Corner (4360 Augusta Road, Lexington) will be closing on October 11, 2013 (another sign of a dying Piggly Wiggly chain)
Andrew
4 Oct 13 at 5:16 pm
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i read where there closing the mills corner pig because it close to a bi-lo so they figure why keep it open when they can take there business to bi-lo few miles down the rd that what happened to a pig in north charleston it was close to a publix and bi-lo tried to buy it but instead offered employees a job at bi-lo that what gonna happen at this pig i bet
sean
4 Mar 14 at 8:35 pm
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Today I noticed a construction dumpster & crew outside leading me to believe something is going on (what it is ain't exactly clear)...
Andrew
6 Dec 17 at 5:10 pm
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I have been told this building has been leased by IGA. I can't find anything on this myself, but have been assured IGA is moving in some time this year.
Judy Tillou
3 Jan 18 at 9:54 am
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I have discovered a writeup that this is to be a trampoline facility...
Adrenaline Trampoline is the name...
Andrew
7 Mar 18 at 3:06 pm
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Today WIS ran a story speaking to the Trampoline park that is due to open up here in the coming weeks...
Andrew
13 Apr 18 at 10:40 pm
another example of why piggly wiggly is a dying chain i think harris teeter should make a come back and put one of its own stores there it the perfect spot for them piggly wiggly is gonna die out of sc the only place it doing well is georgia i went to one of the stores in georgia it was packed lines where back up i think there are more in line georgia piggly wiggly will probley die out of sc just like winn-dixe did so i think harrsi teeter would defently be a best replacement for that centre