It’s closing time for one of Columbia’s last remaining Piggly Wigglys
It’s closing time for a Columbia institution.
The Piggly Wiggly at 3818 Devine Street will close Friday after 50 years as the neighborhood grocery store for the Shandon and Heathwood area. The store has been offering a 50% off sale this week, and by Thursday when The State visited most aisles were closed and had been emptied out of all essentials.
A post on Facebook said the store was down to “baby formula, floral supplies, pie shells and chitterlings” ahead of a planned 6 p.m. closing.
The store announced earlier this month that it would be forced to close because it had been unable to renew its lease.
“I submit our sincere thanks to the residents of the surrounding communities and the Greater Columbia area for your steadfast and generous support over the past fifty years,” owner Darrell Miller wrote at the time. “You have blessed us.”
Known as the “Social Pig” because of its neighborhood atmosphere, the Devine Street store was one of the last outposts of the once ubiquitous Southern grocery chain. After Friday, the only remaining “Pig” in the Columbia area will be at 6325 N Main St. The chain still has locations in the Midlands in Camden, Orangeburg, St. Matthews, Sumter and Wagener.
Fans of the store have mourned its passing on social media. Customers rallied to its defense when it looked like the Piggly Wiggly might be replaced with a Lidl in 2020.
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