Your Thoughts on Piggly Wiggly / Newton's

[RestedTraveler]

This thread has been created for the wave of discussion of Piggly Wiggly that will surely follow the latest TBA in the Greenville Journal Contents Thread just as it followed a previous mention of the same in the same thread.

You know you have something to say about it, so please say it HERE instead of THERE.

[StevenRocks]

I like The Pig. The Pig is good.

[krazeeboi]

^Ditto. A viable alternative to some other chains. It serves its niche well IMO.

[gs3]

I'll take Publix, thank you.

[wellen]

I like to eat. In order to do that at home, I have to shop at a store. If there is a balance of convenience and price at a Piggly Wiggly, then I will shop there. If it is either not convenient, or not competitive, I will not shop there.

As far as tourists or other travellers who have a negative preconcieved notion about a store's name, so be it. They won't be shopping there anyway, and that won't be there only memory of their visit. Hopefully, most memories will be positive, and that may start eating away at their prejudice towards all things Southern.

[vicupstate]

Given that the store will not be branded as "Piggly Wiggly" and are upscale in nature, I think that about eliminates ANY reason for ANYONE to oppose them coming here. For the record, I had no problem with them opening a Piggly Wiggly, but this decision should at least make everyone happy.

I hope they put one in the West End, Downtown or the North End. I would love to see a grocer either on the Transit Authority property in West End (on Augusta) or on the Fred Collins propoerty on Stone and N. Main.

[sc smitty]

I have never actually been in a Piggly Wiggly, though I did have a bad experience in the parking lot of one. My friend and I had just moved to Charleston for a semester and we were driving around looking for a grocery store. Not really familiar with the area, we accidentally wandered through a pretty nasty looking neighborhood before finding the store. Just as we pulled into the parking lot, we were surrounded by several police cars. In a not very polite manner they proceeded to question us, pat us down, and search through my whole car. Apparently, my car matched the description of someone they were looking for who had been selling guns in the neighborhood. We never did make it into the store, and after that did our shopping at Harris Teeter.

Obviously, that has nothing to do with the store itself, and I know it has been fixed up a lot since I lived there. I wouldn't be opposed to one in downtown Greenville if it were done nicely. It would be nice to have more options for grocery shopping. I think it would be good to have several small scale grocery stores around downtown rather than just a couple of the typical large stores.

[whitehourseview]

Downtown needs stores that sell things that people actually want and not a cluster of knick-knack stores.

Greenville needs a greater variety of grocery stores to make pricing and variety more competitive.

Bring on the Pig.

[gs3]

Here is the website for their Newton Farms market. Not much of a website, but looks like the concept could be OK.

http://www.newtonfarms.net/

[Spartan]

While I am big on the pig, I would go to a Publix first, anytime. Wasn't there a rather lengthy discussion about this already?

[wellen]

While I am big on the pig, I would go to a Publix first, anytime. Wasn't there a rather lengthy discussion about this already?

Several. This one's got legs.

[RestedTraveler]

Several. This one's got legs.

And hooves.

[RestedTraveler]

In all seriousness, the latest TBA from the Greenville Journal threatened to open this can of worms again, so I tried to head off the discussion in the Greenville Journal Contents Tread by providing a separate thread specifically for it here.

[g-man430]

Here are some pics of a Newton's Farms store: http://www.mashburnconstruction.com/Newton..._april_2005.htm and a rendering of it: http://www.icsc.org/srch/sct/sct0303/page40.php?region=

[krazeeboi]

They seem to be pretty nondescript with a down home flavor, at least architecturally. I can dig it.

[Greenville]

Dang, I would take a regular-looking Piggly Wiggly before a freaking barn. Piggly Wiggly might sound countryfied, but the Newton Farms barn looks it. I can see the storyline now...

"Imagine a family that lived out in the boonies, with a small feed and seed store on their property. They were honest, hard-working people who just wanted to make a living and quietly go about their way. But aggressive "big city" folk and greedy property owners were trying to buy their property for one of those "developments." But the Newtons weren't going to give into that! No, they were a proud family who stood up to insensitive city slickers who wanted to invade their simple life solely to make a buck.

Today, some are surprised that the Newton's business has thrived. After all, a city's urban downtown core has developed all around it. Upscale dining, the arts, and a plethora of opportunity are all adjacent to Newton Farms. In Greenville, you can have a romantic dinner at Restaurant O, check out some art galleries, and then go to Newton Farms and buy your live bait."

I know this is an exaggeration, but to an outsider who is visiting Greenville it is not a good first impression. That is too bad, considering that the actual store sounds like it has some unique offerings. The Newton Farms website describes the chain thusly:

Inspired by open-air European markets, Newton Farms is a subtle blend of Southern hospitality, thoughtful food selection, and refined tastes. Whether it's fresh local produce, a select cut of Kobe beef, or a vintage Merlot, this extraordinary market has what you're looking for.

It is too bad that they feel the need to make it look like a barn to make it "Southern." Why can't people embrace Southern culture in better ways? Southern culture is more than farms, thick accents, and Gone with the Wind. So before someone bashes me for being anti-Southern, I'm not. I simply think it is a waste of a good grocery store that wants to pay homage to the South. They could have done it in a lot better ways, and I would prefer that the city I call home not be represented by such establishments.

And I know that they might be planning a store somewhere other than downtown, but regardless I don't think it is much better than a regular Piggly Wiggly. Back to the drawing board, guys.

[RestedTraveler]

Here's a store directory/map/floorplan for that same store in Freshfields Village down on Kiawah.

http://www.newtonfarms.net/AboutUs/StoreDirectory.pdf

It seems pretty nice.

It seems like they've taken the idea of a farmers market and have turned it into a chain concept.

Greenville: You're down there nearby. You should go check it out first-hand!

[krazeeboi]

Greenville, all of them don't look like barns (although I must admit the one in Kiawah is an "interesting" concept). I agree, such a design would not fit in well with DT Greenville at all. But this one isn't so bad, from what has already been completed:

Nor does this one:

From what I can tell, unless buildings have been adaptively reused to house grocery stores (e.g., Harris Teeter in an old train station in DT Charleston or Publix in the Confederate Printing Plant in DT Columbia), the design isn't exactly going to be stellar or eye-catching; this goes for the Harris Teeter in DT Charlotte as well. Also, because some of those designs weren't exactly fitting for a burgeoning DT area doesn't mean the company isn't capable of creating one that is. Either way, it's purely speculation at this point.

[RestedTraveler]

Greenville, all of them don't look like barns (although I must admit the one in Kiawah is an "interesting" concept). I agree, such a design would not fit in well with DT Greenville at all. But this one isn't so bad, from what has already been completed:

Nor does this one:

I believe those are just some of the other buildings there in Freshfields Village.

[krazeeboi]

Oh, my bad.

OK, I see; here's the actual grocery store in the Mashburn Construction webiste set:

Not exactly appropriate for downtown, I agree. I say give them a chance to submit a rendering of the design (if the chain is even picked for a downtown location), then go from there. But so far, it doesn't appear as though the chain has any urban (downtown) locations.

[RestedTraveler]

I could see them perhaps fashioning something with an outside facade based on the old textile mills for Greenville. That could be cool.

[StevenRocks]

A little place-appropriate architecture never hurt anybody.

[gs3]

Dang, I would take a regular-looking Piggly Wiggly before a freaking barn. Piggly Wiggly might sound countryfied, but the Newton Farms barn looks it. I can see the storyline now...

"Imagine a family that lived out in the boonies, with a small feed and seed store on their property. They were honest, hard-working people who just wanted to make a living and quietly go about their way. But aggressive "big city" folk and greedy property owners were trying to buy their property for one of those "developments." But the Newtons weren't going to give into that! No, they were a proud family who stood up to insensitive city slickers who wanted to invade their simple life solely to make a buck.

Today, some are surprised that the Newton's business has thrived. After all, a city's urban downtown core has developed all around it. Upscale dining, the arts, and a plethora of opportunity are all adjacent to Newton Farms. In Greenville, you can have a romantic dinner at Restaurant O, check out some art galleries, and then go to Newton Farms and buy your live bait."

I know this is an exaggeration, but to an outsider who is visiting Greenville it is not a good first impression. That is too bad, considering that the actual store sounds like it has some unique offerings. The Newton Farms website describes the chain thusly:

Inspired by open-air European markets, Newton Farms is a subtle blend of Southern hospitality, thoughtful food selection, and refined tastes. Whether it's fresh local produce, a select cut of Kobe beef, or a vintage Merlot, this extraordinary market has what you're looking for.

It is too bad that they feel the need to make it look like a barn to make it "Southern." Why can't people embrace Southern culture in better ways? Southern culture is more than farms, thick accents, and Gone with the Wind. So before someone bashes me for being anti-Southern, I'm not. I simply think it is a waste of a good grocery store that wants to pay homage to the South. They could have done it in a lot better ways, and I would prefer that the city I call home not be represented by such establishments.

And I know that they might be planning a store somewhere other than downtown, but regardless I don't think it is much better than a regular Piggly Wiggly. Back to the drawing board, guys.

Great post! Enjoyed the read!

If Newton Farms were really like an old Southern farm, there would be a rusty car up on concrete blocks, a rusty old washing machine with weeds growing around it and a trailer with tires on the roof next door, where the unmarried grandaughter lived with her 7 children all by different husbands.

I must say, the photo of this Newton Farms store seems sweet and simple. Urban? No. But as RT pointed out, I could easily see it in an old mill looking building. At least it represents an image of fresh, natural food, unlike The Pig which presents an image of grease, lard and frying up a "mess" of bacon!

The Newton Farms building and image reminds me alot of the movie from the 80's Baby Boom, where Dianne Keaton is this busy yuppie New York exec, who is left a baby when relatives die. She can't maintain her busy yuppie New York lifestyle with the baby, so she sells everything and moves to the country, a small Connecticut town. There, she's so bored, that she starts making fresh apple sauce baby food and selling it at a local store. One day some Boston preps drive through in their Saab on the way to ski, and find her product....they think they've discovered a new trend.....gourmet apple sauce, and a new business idea is born. From there she grows a baby food company that turns into an empire and is bought by the best homes from New York to San Fran. The baby food is called Country Baby, but urban yups just eat it up....they love the name! Anyway, I see Newton Farms this way.....more genteel country, not just down home redneck. There is a difference.

[Spartan]

I assume that Greenville has some pretty strict design guidelines, so it will look sharp no matter what. Considering where its going, I expect that it will not be a barn.

[GSP Tiger]

I look forward to Piggly Wiggly's coming to Greenville. Their new upscale looking sotres are so much better than the severely outdated ones located in teh middle of nowhere. To prove people's convictions wrong on Piggly Wiggly being a lower tier supermarket, Piggly Wiggly should invade Greenville with three or four top line stores, which seems to be a tier higher than Publix.