September 6, 1916: The Great Supermarket Revolution Begins with a Squeal

Attention Shoppers: You Have to Pick It Up Yourself!

Imagine walking into a grocery store, handing a piece of paper to a grumpy clerk behind a counter, and waiting twenty minutes while they slowly gather your lard, oats, and molasses. That was everyday life until September 6, 1916, when an eccentric entrepreneur named Clarence Saunders completely revolutionized retail by opening the very first Piggly Wiggly in Memphis, Tennessee.

Why Was This a Big Deal?

Before Piggly Wiggly, "self-service" shopping didn’t exist. Clerks fetched every single item while customers stood around twiddling their thumbs. Saunders thought this was ridiculously inefficient. His solution? Force customers to do the walking!

At the brand-new store, shoppers passed through a turnstile, navigated a compulsory one-way maze of shelves, grabbed products with their own hands, and paid at a front checkout lane—inventions we now take for granted.

The Mysterious Name

To this day, nobody is entirely sure why Saunders chose such an absurd name for an institution that would transform global retail. When repeatedly pressed by journalists about why on earth he named his grocery store Piggly Wiggly, Saunders reportedly answered simply:

"So people would ask that very question."

Next time you're wandering down the snack aisle throwing impulse buys into your cart at midnight, thank September 6, 1916—and a man named Clarence who thought humans should be allowed to touch their own boxes of cereal.