Macon Georgia area History (Piggly Wiggly)
Posted: 09 Apr 2006 23:17
Macon Georgia Grocery history as I know so far. And it is a long and detailed history.
Over the past 50 years, the primary chains to operate in the Macon/Warner Robins area were: Piggly Wiggly, Winn-Dixie, Kroger, Food Lion, A&P, Colonial/Big Star, FoodMax and Red Apple. Long time independent (neighborhood) groceries include Bateman & Wade, Rocky Creek Foods, C&J and Macon Food Fair.
Newer chains include Publix, Save-a-lot and 7 (count them...SEVEN) Wal-Mart Supercenters. and Southern Family Markets operating under the names "Southern Family Market" and "Piggly Wiggly".
I should count that there are two Ingles stores just outside and North of Macon and two Harvey's stores south of Macon.
Piggly Wiggly: Ownership by Piggly Wiggly Southern and later Bruno's. the name disappeared in 1998 when owner Bruno's combined them with existing FoodMax stores, changed the names of the Piggly Wiggly's to FoodMax and closed some underperforming stores. The name Piggly Wiggly returned to the Macon area when Brunos (owned by Ahold?) sold all of the Foodmax stores to a "new" company called Southern Family Foods which turned all of the Foodmax stores into Piggly Wiggly franchises in the fall of 2005. Foodmax ceases to exist.
NOTE: There has always been Piggly Wiggly franchises in rural towns in Central and South Georgia not affected by the changes in Macon/Warner Robins
Piggly Wiggly store locations:
MACON
Riverside Drive and Ingleside Avenue, next to K-Mart (Late 1960's)- Demolished, now Hutchings High School
Riverside Drive and Pierce Avenue (1950's-1980's)-Now Aunt Zelda's Furnature. Eckerd's and Blockbuster were add ons built in 1990
Northside Drive and Forest Hill road (1970's-1980's)-Now Warner Robins Building supply and lumber. Piggly Wiggly moved into new "upscale" store across street as FoodMax. That store closed in 1999 and is now a Fred's discount store.
4000 block of Forsyth Road RIVOLI CROSSING SHOPPING CENTER (1980's)-Closed in 1991, is now a Stein Mart clothing store
Emery Hwy (1950's-1980's) Closed, now Family Dollar
Gray Hwy (1980's) shared shopping center with Wal-mart, store closed as FoodMax within weeks of a new Wal-Mart supercenter being built across the street in 2000
Shurlington Drive Plaza (1960's) OPEN
Columbus Road (1980's) was built as FoodMax, now has Piggly Wiggly name
Napier Avenue NAPIER SQUARE: Was said to be the oldest Piggly Wiggly in Macon when it closed in 1999. The store was opened in the mid 1940's (and looked every bit of it....this was not a pretty store). This store was re-opened as a Save-A-Lot in 2001 and is the only grocery store in this low income neighborhood.
Eisenhower Parkway and Pio Nono Avenue: This store took over a vacant former Table Supply (Winn Dixie) store on the SE corner as a FoodMax. Still open now as Piggly Wiggly
Eisenhower Parkway and Log Cabin Drive: this is 2 miles west of the previous store mentioned above. Built in the early 1980's and closed as a Piggly Wiggly in 1998. Remains vacant today.
Rocky Creek road and Pio Nono Avenue (1950's) closed and moved across street around 1980 in new Rocky Creek Plaza shopping center. Old location was later a Family Dollar. Building now vacant
ROCKY CREEK PLAZA, Piggly Wiggly moved from across street in new shopping center in 1980. was a 24 hour store turned into Foodmax in 1998 and back into Piggly Wiggly in 2005. FYI: Family Dollar that occupied former Piggly Wiggly across street now occupies former Eckerd's next to current Piggly Wiggly.
WARNER ROBINS, GEORGIA
North Davis Drive (1950's vintage) closed in late 1980's. Was Badcock furnature and currently is MAXWAY discount store.
2200 block of Moody Road- former Piggly Wiggly closed in 1998 is now Goodwill store
700 block of Russell Parkway Opened as Piggly Wiggly in 1980, closed as FoodMax in 2005 when Bruno's/Ahold could not find a buyer for the location which competes with two Krogers, Publix and two Wal-Marts, all within a 3 mile radius. Store is currently vacant
North Houston Road-3 buildings on corner: (1960's) In shopping center next to Zayre on NE corner. was a "Drugs 4 Less", then CVS Pharmacy, Now a Save-A-Lot store
Closed and moved across the street-Opened as Food World in 1980's on NW corner. This was later BIG LOTS and is now vacant.
FOODMAX was built free standing next to the former FoodWorld in the early 1990's and was renamed Piggly Wiggly in 2005
FORSYTH, GEORGIA Piggly Wiggly (1970's vintage) was closed around 2000. Now Freshway Market. Former independant a mile away assumed Piggly Wiggly franchise for 5 years. The independent store is now closed.
Forsyth, Ga has a large Ingles market that has run the other stores in this small town out of business.
FORT VALLEY, GEORGIA Piggly Wiggly (1970's vintage) was identical to the one in Forsyth Georgia. It was also one of only three markets in this small town. The store closed as a Food Max in 2005 when Bruno's/Ahold was not able to find a buyer for the location. Store is vacant
PERRY GEORGIA has two Piggly Wiggly's. One was on North Main Street and the other less than 2 miles away on US-41 north. The US41 location closed in the 1990's and has remained vacant ever since. The other location was sold to Harvey's Supermarkets around 1999 and is open as Harveys.
Other towns with PIGGLY WIGGLY stores under this same ownership group include Cochran, (former BI-LO), Eastman, Hawkinsville (closed), Milledgeville (2) and Eatonton (closed). And SOUTHERN FAMILY MARKET stores in Dublin (2) and East Dublin. Each of these were named FoodMax for a while before being renamed Piggly Wiggly. The "Southern Family" stores were named so because of competition with other Piggly Wiggly franchises in the area.
Over the past 50 years, the primary chains to operate in the Macon/Warner Robins area were: Piggly Wiggly, Winn-Dixie, Kroger, Food Lion, A&P, Colonial/Big Star, FoodMax and Red Apple. Long time independent (neighborhood) groceries include Bateman & Wade, Rocky Creek Foods, C&J and Macon Food Fair.
Newer chains include Publix, Save-a-lot and 7 (count them...SEVEN) Wal-Mart Supercenters. and Southern Family Markets operating under the names "Southern Family Market" and "Piggly Wiggly".
I should count that there are two Ingles stores just outside and North of Macon and two Harvey's stores south of Macon.
Piggly Wiggly: Ownership by Piggly Wiggly Southern and later Bruno's. the name disappeared in 1998 when owner Bruno's combined them with existing FoodMax stores, changed the names of the Piggly Wiggly's to FoodMax and closed some underperforming stores. The name Piggly Wiggly returned to the Macon area when Brunos (owned by Ahold?) sold all of the Foodmax stores to a "new" company called Southern Family Foods which turned all of the Foodmax stores into Piggly Wiggly franchises in the fall of 2005. Foodmax ceases to exist.
NOTE: There has always been Piggly Wiggly franchises in rural towns in Central and South Georgia not affected by the changes in Macon/Warner Robins
Piggly Wiggly store locations:
MACON
Riverside Drive and Ingleside Avenue, next to K-Mart (Late 1960's)- Demolished, now Hutchings High School
Riverside Drive and Pierce Avenue (1950's-1980's)-Now Aunt Zelda's Furnature. Eckerd's and Blockbuster were add ons built in 1990
Northside Drive and Forest Hill road (1970's-1980's)-Now Warner Robins Building supply and lumber. Piggly Wiggly moved into new "upscale" store across street as FoodMax. That store closed in 1999 and is now a Fred's discount store.
4000 block of Forsyth Road RIVOLI CROSSING SHOPPING CENTER (1980's)-Closed in 1991, is now a Stein Mart clothing store
Emery Hwy (1950's-1980's) Closed, now Family Dollar
Gray Hwy (1980's) shared shopping center with Wal-mart, store closed as FoodMax within weeks of a new Wal-Mart supercenter being built across the street in 2000
Shurlington Drive Plaza (1960's) OPEN
Columbus Road (1980's) was built as FoodMax, now has Piggly Wiggly name
Napier Avenue NAPIER SQUARE: Was said to be the oldest Piggly Wiggly in Macon when it closed in 1999. The store was opened in the mid 1940's (and looked every bit of it....this was not a pretty store). This store was re-opened as a Save-A-Lot in 2001 and is the only grocery store in this low income neighborhood.
Eisenhower Parkway and Pio Nono Avenue: This store took over a vacant former Table Supply (Winn Dixie) store on the SE corner as a FoodMax. Still open now as Piggly Wiggly
Eisenhower Parkway and Log Cabin Drive: this is 2 miles west of the previous store mentioned above. Built in the early 1980's and closed as a Piggly Wiggly in 1998. Remains vacant today.
Rocky Creek road and Pio Nono Avenue (1950's) closed and moved across street around 1980 in new Rocky Creek Plaza shopping center. Old location was later a Family Dollar. Building now vacant
ROCKY CREEK PLAZA, Piggly Wiggly moved from across street in new shopping center in 1980. was a 24 hour store turned into Foodmax in 1998 and back into Piggly Wiggly in 2005. FYI: Family Dollar that occupied former Piggly Wiggly across street now occupies former Eckerd's next to current Piggly Wiggly.
WARNER ROBINS, GEORGIA
North Davis Drive (1950's vintage) closed in late 1980's. Was Badcock furnature and currently is MAXWAY discount store.
2200 block of Moody Road- former Piggly Wiggly closed in 1998 is now Goodwill store
700 block of Russell Parkway Opened as Piggly Wiggly in 1980, closed as FoodMax in 2005 when Bruno's/Ahold could not find a buyer for the location which competes with two Krogers, Publix and two Wal-Marts, all within a 3 mile radius. Store is currently vacant
North Houston Road-3 buildings on corner: (1960's) In shopping center next to Zayre on NE corner. was a "Drugs 4 Less", then CVS Pharmacy, Now a Save-A-Lot store
Closed and moved across the street-Opened as Food World in 1980's on NW corner. This was later BIG LOTS and is now vacant.
FOODMAX was built free standing next to the former FoodWorld in the early 1990's and was renamed Piggly Wiggly in 2005
FORSYTH, GEORGIA Piggly Wiggly (1970's vintage) was closed around 2000. Now Freshway Market. Former independant a mile away assumed Piggly Wiggly franchise for 5 years. The independent store is now closed.
Forsyth, Ga has a large Ingles market that has run the other stores in this small town out of business.
FORT VALLEY, GEORGIA Piggly Wiggly (1970's vintage) was identical to the one in Forsyth Georgia. It was also one of only three markets in this small town. The store closed as a Food Max in 2005 when Bruno's/Ahold was not able to find a buyer for the location. Store is vacant
PERRY GEORGIA has two Piggly Wiggly's. One was on North Main Street and the other less than 2 miles away on US-41 north. The US41 location closed in the 1990's and has remained vacant ever since. The other location was sold to Harvey's Supermarkets around 1999 and is open as Harveys.
Other towns with PIGGLY WIGGLY stores under this same ownership group include Cochran, (former BI-LO), Eastman, Hawkinsville (closed), Milledgeville (2) and Eatonton (closed). And SOUTHERN FAMILY MARKET stores in Dublin (2) and East Dublin. Each of these were named FoodMax for a while before being renamed Piggly Wiggly. The "Southern Family" stores were named so because of competition with other Piggly Wiggly franchises in the area.