1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:14,520 --> 00:00:17,599 Speaker 1: a show that searches the aisles of history to bring 4 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 1: you a new story every day. I'm Gabe Lousier and 5 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:24,799 Speaker 1: in this episode, we're talking about the rise of the 6 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:29,160 Speaker 1: American grocery store, including wi It's retail model was such 7 00:00:29,160 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: a game changer for shoppers. The day was September six, 8 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:46,640 Speaker 1: nineteen sixteen. Entrepreneur Clarence Saunders opened the Piggly Wiggly, the 9 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:50,920 Speaker 1: first self service grocery store in the United States. The 10 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: roots of modern American grocery stores lie in the small 11 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 1: regional chains that started cropping up in the early twentieth century. 12 00:00:59,680 --> 00:01:03,279 Speaker 1: These early locations were much smaller than what most shoppers 13 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: are used to, typically less than a thousand square feet, 14 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:10,200 Speaker 1: and that means they stocked many fewer products as well. 15 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:14,199 Speaker 1: In fact, stores of the era carried only one type 16 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 1: of grocery, dry goods. That means there was no produce, meat, 17 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:22,800 Speaker 1: or dairy, only things like canned goods, spices, and other 18 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 1: non perishable items. At the time, customers still had to 19 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:30,760 Speaker 1: visit a number of separate specialty shops to get every 20 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 1: item on their list. So after heading to the grocery 21 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: store for your dry goods, you'd stop off at a 22 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:39,479 Speaker 1: butcher shop for your meat, a green grocer for your produce, 23 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 1: a creamery for your milk and butter, and so on. 24 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:46,760 Speaker 1: Under this system, grocery shopping was kind of an all 25 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:50,040 Speaker 1: day affair, but for a long time there wasn't any 26 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 1: other option. The one stop shops supermarkets you find today 27 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: weren't really a possibility until the advent of things like 28 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: refrigeration and the National Highway system. Still, that's not to 29 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: say there weren't plenty of grocery innovations in the meantime, 30 00:02:05,400 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: and one of the biggest shake ups of the era 31 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:11,799 Speaker 1: came in nineteen sixteen when a wholesale grocer named Clarence 32 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:16,119 Speaker 1: Saunders opened his first Piggly Wiggly store at seventy nine 33 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:21,519 Speaker 1: Jefferson Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Saunders store was special because 34 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: it introduced America to the idea of self service shopping. 35 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:28,639 Speaker 1: It's strange to think about now, but old school grocery 36 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 1: stores were set up to have the clerks do all 37 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:34,240 Speaker 1: the shopping for you. Customers would hand over a list 38 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 1: of all the items they wanted, and then one of 39 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:39,560 Speaker 1: the employees would move from shelf to shelf, bagging up 40 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:43,519 Speaker 1: the different items as they went. However, in saunders new 41 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:47,760 Speaker 1: do it yourself store, the customers collected their items themselves 42 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:51,600 Speaker 1: for the first time. Of course, after a lifetime of 43 00:02:51,639 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: being waited on. Not everyone appreciated this new independent approach 44 00:02:55,919 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: to shopping. There were even reports of confused customers flagging 45 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:03,519 Speaker 1: down stock boys to go fetch items for them, only 46 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: to be told that wasn't how things worked at the 47 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:08,880 Speaker 1: Piggy Wiggly. There was a bit of a learning curve 48 00:03:08,960 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: to be sure, but overall people took to the new 49 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:14,960 Speaker 1: self service style pretty well. A big reason for that 50 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:18,000 Speaker 1: quick adoption was how much faster the d I Y 51 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:20,800 Speaker 1: system was once people got to know the layout of 52 00:03:20,840 --> 00:03:24,079 Speaker 1: the store, and of course, it also helped that prices 53 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 1: at the Piggly Wiggly were considerably lower than those of 54 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: traditional dry goods stores since it didn't have to employ 55 00:03:30,560 --> 00:03:34,480 Speaker 1: an army of clerks to help the customers. Now you 56 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:38,240 Speaker 1: might assume from the name that Piggy Wiggly was also 57 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: the first grocery store to add a meat department to 58 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: the mix, or at the very least a Delhi. But 59 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: that's not the case. Despite Piggy Wiggly's more modern approach 60 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,880 Speaker 1: to shopping, it was still just a dry goods grocery store. 61 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 1: So what's with the name, Well, it's honestly kind of 62 00:03:56,320 --> 00:04:00,880 Speaker 1: a mystery. Clarence Saunders was oddly reluctant to explain where 63 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:03,880 Speaker 1: the name came from. In one version of events, he 64 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: came up with a rhyming name while watching a group 65 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: of small pigs try to squirm their way under a fence. However, 66 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: on another occasion, someone asked Saunders why he chose such 67 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:17,800 Speaker 1: a strange name, and his response was so people will 68 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:21,839 Speaker 1: ask that very question. If that's true, then the name 69 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:25,159 Speaker 1: was more about creating a memorable brand than anything else, 70 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:28,920 Speaker 1: which seems appropriate when you consider that saunders new approach 71 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 1: to groceries was basically the dawn of branding. In general. 72 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:36,039 Speaker 1: Customers were no longer kept at a distance from the 73 00:04:36,080 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 1: products they were buying. All of a sudden, they had 74 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:42,960 Speaker 1: more decision making power than ever before, and food companies 75 00:04:43,040 --> 00:04:46,920 Speaker 1: definitely took notice of that change. Around the nineteen twenties, 76 00:04:47,080 --> 00:04:50,480 Speaker 1: they started placing a much larger emphasis on packaging and 77 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:54,680 Speaker 1: taglines and mascots, all the new ways that companies came 78 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: up with to make their products stand out from the 79 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:02,279 Speaker 1: competition and better grab the customers attention. Clarence Saunders got 80 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:06,279 Speaker 1: into that kind of supermarket psychology as well. Because his 81 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:09,719 Speaker 1: customers were free to wander and shop for themselves, he 82 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: had to think carefully about the appearance and layout of 83 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:16,120 Speaker 1: his store. This led to the addition of all kinds 84 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:20,479 Speaker 1: of modern staples, like employee uniforms so customers could identify 85 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 1: who worked there, and shopping baskets so they could carry 86 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 1: and ultimately purchase more items at once. The baskets were 87 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,919 Speaker 1: made of wood in those days, not plastic. Due to 88 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 1: its self service style, Piggy Wiggly was also the first 89 00:05:35,440 --> 00:05:38,520 Speaker 1: grocery store to provide checkout stands and to put a 90 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 1: price label on every item in the store. To be clear, though, 91 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:45,599 Speaker 1: while many of these breakthroughs are accredited to Saunders and 92 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:49,080 Speaker 1: the Piggly Wiggly, that doesn't mean some of the same ideas, 93 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:53,240 Speaker 1: like shopping baskets and self service weren't being experimented with 94 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: by other stores around the same time. It's a tough 95 00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:59,719 Speaker 1: thing to pin down precisely, but if nothing else, the 96 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: tie timeline does support Piggy Wiggli's claim as the first 97 00:06:03,320 --> 00:06:06,760 Speaker 1: modern grocery store, at least when it comes to offering 98 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 1: self service. In the end, customers responded so strongly to 99 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: the store that within a year of its opening, there 100 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: were a total of nine Piggy Wiggly locations in the 101 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: Memphis area. As the company grew and distribution improved, new 102 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:25,000 Speaker 1: types of products were added to the shelves, including the 103 00:06:25,040 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: elusive produce meat and dairy. These additions transformed Piggy Wiggly 104 00:06:30,520 --> 00:06:33,920 Speaker 1: into a full fledged supermarket, one of the very first 105 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:37,839 Speaker 1: of its kind. Clarence Saunders was so pleased with his 106 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,359 Speaker 1: store's success that he actually made a lofty prediction to 107 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:45,600 Speaker 1: the people of his hometown. He said, quote, one day 108 00:06:45,720 --> 00:06:48,920 Speaker 1: Memphis shall be proud of Piggy Wiggly, and it shall 109 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:52,040 Speaker 1: be said by all men that the Pigley Wigglies shall 110 00:06:52,120 --> 00:06:56,320 Speaker 1: multiply and replenish the earth with more and cleaner things 111 00:06:56,400 --> 00:07:00,359 Speaker 1: to eat. I can't vouch for all of that, but 112 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:04,400 Speaker 1: the company is still going strong today. As of twenty 113 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:07,480 Speaker 1: twenty two, there are more than five hundred Piggy Wiggly 114 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:11,560 Speaker 1: stores spread across nineteen different states. So in that sense, 115 00:07:11,880 --> 00:07:15,600 Speaker 1: I'd say Saunders was right. He left Memphis with plenty 116 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:21,240 Speaker 1: to be proud of. I'm gay, bluesier, and hopefully you 117 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 1: now know a little more about history today than you 118 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 1: did yesterday. If you have a second and you're so inclined, 119 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: consider following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t 120 00:07:32,120 --> 00:07:35,640 Speaker 1: d i h C Show. You can also rate and 121 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:38,520 Speaker 1: review the show on Apple Podcasts, or you can send 122 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 1: your feedback directly to me at this day at I 123 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: heart media dot com. Thanks, as always the Chandler Mays 124 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:48,400 Speaker 1: for producing the show, and thanks to you for listening. 125 00:07:48,880 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 1: I'll see you back here again tomorrow for another day 126 00:07:51,920 --> 00:08:03,520 Speaker 1: in History class.