Long live the Pig

Billye Curry, who moved to Mountain Brook with her family in 1929, remembers Piggly Wiggly opening in Crestline after the A&P and a Winn Dixie left the area in the 1950s.

“I have always depended on the Pig for having the best meat department in town,” she said. “The convenience and the small town atmosphere, the wonderful people, and friendly service make this store my favorite. Many times I have gone in and asked about a product that the manager would be sure to add to the inventory for me. You can’t do better than that.”

But now, Curry is concerned about losing her go-to store.

Crestline’s only grocery provider is under lease negotiations, and residents have organized to make sure it doesn’t leave.

The hubbub started on June 7 when rumor led to the launch of a “Save the Crestline Pig” Facebook page, which amassed more than 4,000 likes over the next four days. In addition, a petition created by “Friends of the Pig” on change.org had 1,036 signatures as of June 18.

On June 8, Andy Virciglio, co-owner of Piggly Wiggly Food Stores of Jefferson County Inc., released a statement that Piggly Wiggly was in lease negotiations with its landlord.

“Everything about this store fits Crestline, and it is humbling to see how vocal our customers are in wanting us to stay,” Virciglio said. “We are planning on making that happen.”

According to City Manager Sam Gaston, a company out of Auburn talked with City Planner Dana Hazen about adding a drive-through window to the existing Piggly Wiggly location. The company is aware of the deadline to get on the agenda for the next planning commission meeting, Gaston said, but he could not confirm the company name.

Unconfirmed reports arose that the visiting company represented a national pharmacy corporation like CVS or Walgreens. Gaston also said that the City’s records show that chains like CVS create about one-fifth the amount sales tax revenue as the Crestline Piggly Wiggly.

Representatives from CVS declined to comment for this story. Walter Scott, a local attorney whose family owns the site, was also unwilling to comment when contacted.

As rumors continued to circulate over the weeks to come, Virciglio’s only additional comment emphasized the store’s relationship with the community.

“Our stores are highly involved in the communities we serve,” he said. “We work hard to build a positive relationship with our customers, and we value them very much. That is how my family and the store’s staff has always operated.”

Pig supporters overflowed a library meeting room for a meeting hosted by the Facebook group organizers on June 10.

The meeting, led by Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce president Terry Chapman, was a discussion of what people loved about the Piggly Wiggly in Crestline and a quick summary of the issue.

City officials indicated at the meeting that an agreement has not yet been reached.

Since the Piggly Wiggly opened in Crestline, five additional grocery stores have opened within a 5-mile radius of the store. Most recently, Winn-Dixie on Montevallo Road opened in 1999, Publix on Montclair Road in 2006 and Whole Foods in 2007.

Virginia Volman shops at several grocery stores for her catering business, but she relies on Piggly Wiggly for its produce department and friendly service.

“With catering, the produce manager has always been helpful,” she said. “They will go look for an item I need and call after they have been to the farmers market to look for it. I also like that I have seen the same people (working) there since I was in high school.”

Barbara McElroy, who lives less than a mile from Crestline Village, shops primarily at Piggly Wiggly, making trips to Fresh Market and Publix only for certain items.

She said she started shopping there when her son, now 20, was 3 years old. The store where she shopped before kept toys on a child’s eye-level in every aisle. That, she said, was not family-friendly, so she found a new go-to at the Piggly Wiggly, where she has found not only prices but also a selection of meats and wines to her liking for years.

“They have a great product line tailored to the needs of the community,” she said. “If you need something you don’t see, they will get it for you.”

But what stands out most to McElroy is how the store serves as a cornerstone of Crestline. It’s a place she feels so strongly about that she said she probably wouldn’t live in Crestline if the Piggly Wiggly weren’t there.

“It’s part of what makes our community what it is,” she said. “We need a grocery store where you can walk in and they know if you have been on vacation for a week because they haven’t seen you.”