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Once again, Saunders had captured the country’s attention with his latest venture although, mechanical failures eventually closed the store. Then, in 1937, Saunders designed and constructed a prototype of an automated store, which he called the “Keedoozle” (for “Key Does All”).
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The stock was successfully traded on the New York Stock Exchange for some time, but through a series of stock transactions in the early 1920s, Saunders lost control of Piggly Wiggly and had no further association with the company. The original Piggly Wiggly Corporation became owner of all Piggly Wiggly properties: the name, the patents, etc., and Saunders began issuing stock in the Corporation.
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Piggly Wiggly Corporation, established by Saunders when he opened the first store in Memphis, secured the self-service format and issued franchises to hundreds of grocery retailers for the operation of Piggly Wiggly stores. There were shopping baskets, open shelves and no clerks to shop for the customer – all unheard of! Operating under the unusual name Piggly Wiggly, it was unlike any other grocery store of that time. Saunders, a flamboyant and innovative man, noticed that this method resulted in wasted time and expense, so he came up with an unheard-of solution that would revolutionize the entire grocery industry: he developed a way for shoppers to serve themselves.ĭespite predictions that this novel idea would fail, Saunders’ first store opened Septemat 79 Jefferson Street in Memphis. In grocery stores of that time, shoppers presented their orders to clerks who gathered the goods from the store shelves. Piggly Wiggly®, America’s first true self-service grocery store, was founded in Memphis, Tenn.
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Jim entered the family business in 1986 and is the present owner and is carrying on the family tradition of serving the needs of the Union community. Three generations of Ogletrees have been serving the Union community for over 90 years. My father Ed, purchased the grocery part in the early 60’s and in 1974 built the present building and changed to Piggly wiggly. He opened Ogletree’s grocery and feed in the late 1920’s. History of business: Cliff Ogletree started out delivering groceries to farms on an old ww1 military vehicle. We have many departments with the highest quality products. If you need anything please ask one of our team members, and we will take care of you. We pride ourselves on great customer service. We are a locally owned full service grocery store.
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