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There’s been a Piggly Wiggly in Lanett as long as there has been shopping centers in the city.

The first one was located in the Valley Plaza Shopping Center between Gilmer and Lanier avenues. It moved to its present location in the Cherry Valley Shopping Center when a Big Star grocery store closed in the 1980s.

The shelves inside the store are fast emptying out, and the doors will close for good at the end of the day on Friday, January 31st.

For years, Piggly Wiggly has embraced the motto “Down Home, Down the Street,” appealing to small-town values.

Founded by Clarence Saunders in Memphis, Tennessee in 1916, Piggly Wiggly was the first self-service grocery store in the United States. An experienced grocer, Saunders had long noticed that having clerks fill orders was inefficient and expensive.

People liked taking items off the shelves themselves and carrying it to the counter. His ideas had massive influence on the development of the modern supermarket.