The Pig has flown north.
The first Piggly-Wiggly grocery store franchises in West Virginia since the 1980s have opened their doors, bringing a familiar sight to state residents used to seeing the chain when they vacation in the south, especially Myrtle Beach.
Adam Johnson, who’s managing the Milton store in Cabell County, said it’s great to open a business that already has some familiarity to customers.
“A lot of people vacation in the south and they’re familiar with Piggly-Wiggly brand, and they’ve come and checked us out today. It’s crazy in here,” he said.
The Johnson family ran the Milton Foodland and the Galaxy grocery store in Hamlin — both of which are Piggly-Wiggly franchises — and Adam Johnson said he expects more of the franchises in the Mountain State.
“We are the first in West Virginia but I think you’ll see more in the future,” Johnson said. “I don’t know if it will be right away but there’s a lot of interest out there. Our prices and products are outstanding.”
Piggly-Wiggly has supermarkets in 17 states and stretches as far north as Wisconsin and Minnesota.The new West Virginia stores aren’t the first ever in the Mountain State. Readers of wvmetronews.com say there was a Piggly-Wiggly in Beckley in the 1950s and in Martinsburg around 1980.
The Piggly-Wiggly mascot was on hand for Wednesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.