The History of Piggly Wiggly Carolina
Today Piggly Wiggly Carolina has become the largest employee-owned, privately operated retail company in South Carolina, servicing over 100 retail stores with annual sales over $800 million and a workforce of over 6,000 employee-owners throughout South Carolina and southeastern Georgia. Diversification has been another important change in the Piggly Wiggly organization. Today it is active in many other businesses including Greenbax Enterprises, Newton Builders, Tri-State Printing and Stagecoach. When Joseph T. “Joe” Newton, Jr. passed away on August 15th 1997, at age 85, he left behind one of the state’s leading retail businesses and a legacy of caring philanthropy. All this from a young man with less than a ninth grade education, who had the personal drive to succeed and to see the successful growth of Piggly Wiggly, created from hustling daily, delivering groceries and selling an idea. Retiring from Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company in July 1998, Burton R. “Burt” Schools said the most rewarding part of his 40 years with the company was knowing young people that came here, stayed here, and watching and helping them grow to become important people within the company and develop into great adults and great contributors to the community. Burt Schools said Mr. Newton once told him a person’s greatest contribution is to train his or her successor. Upon Burt Schools’ retirement, Joseph T. “Buzzy” Newton, III was named President of Greenbax Enterprises along with his position of President of Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company. Burt Schools became Chairman of the Board.
In 1999 construction was completed on two large projects, the corporate office building at Albemarle Point Center, and a 612,000 sq. ft. distribution center on I-26 in Berkeley County. Since then growth continued with the major renovation of 12 stores, the replacement of 5 stores and the opening of 7 new stores by 2006, along with a new upscale market, Newton Farms, at the crossroads of Kiawah and Seabrook Islands, and the addition of 3 new fuel centers.
