photo #5408696

Cashiers at the grand opening of a Piggly Wiggly in Encino, California in 1962 (see another picture in the comments).Piggly Wiggly was the first self-service grocery store. It was founded in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee.At the time of its founding, grocery stores did not allow customers to gather their goods. Instead, a customer would give a list of items to a clerk, who would then collect them throughout the store. This created greater costs and higher prices. Piggly Wiggly introduced the innovation of allowing customers to go through the store, gathering their goods, thus cutting costs and lowering prices. Losses due to easier shoplifting were more than offset by profits from increased impulse purchasing. This style of grocery store came to be known as a "groceteria", reminding people of cafeterias, another relatively new, self-service idea.At its peak in 1932, the company operated 2,660 stores and posted annual sales in excess of $180 million.Today, there are 499 Piggly Wiggly grocery stores in the Midwest and South.Shop over 10,000 old school t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, and hats at American Retro Apparel with free shipping on every order: www.americanretroapparel.com