C&S Brings Piggly Wiggly Banner to New York

New store opening in Watertown March 3

3/3/2022

Since it began more than a century ago, Piggly Wiggly has continued to grow its presence with stores throughout the Midwest, South and Northeast.

C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc. is launching the venerable Piggly Wiggly supermarket banner in New York state on March 3, with the grand opening of a store in Watertown. GU Markets LLC, an affiliate of C&S, will operate the store. To mark the occasion, store leadership will make a special donation to the Northern New York Community Foundation.

“We are very excited to bring this beloved brand to New York,” said C&S CEO Bob Palmer. “Piggly Wiggly has been an icon in the supermarket industry since its first store opening in the 1900s. When we purchased the 12 stores that became available due to the Tops Markets merger with Price Chopper/Market 32, we immediately knew that this location was the right opportunity to enter the Northeast market and showcase why this is a supermarket that creates braggingly happy customers.”

Since it began in 1916, Piggly Wiggly has continued to grow its presence with stores throughout the Midwest, South and Northeast. The Watertown store offers the selection and assortment of a national chain, but with the service and local customization of a community-based retailer. Each of C&S’ stores contains specialized local assortments to meet local shoppers’ needs.

GU Markets is also the operator of 11 stores opening under the Grand Union banner, another resurrected brand, although one with a previous presence in the region. C&S acquired all of these stores last year, when Price Chopper and Tops Markets LLC decided to merge and FTC’s regulatory review process mandated the divestiture of 12 Tops locations.

In July 2021, C&S revealed it was acquiring Wisconsin-based Piggly Wiggly Midwest, a deal that allowed it to operate 11 Piggly Wiggly Midwest corporate stores and service 14 Butera Market stores in the Chicagoland region, as well as gain 84 Wisconsin franchisees under the Piggly Wiggly banner. The wholesaler had purchased Piggly Wiggly Carolina back in 2014.

Founded in 1918 as a supplier to independent grocery stores, Keene, N.H.-based C&S Wholesale Grocers now services customers of all sizes, supplying more than 7,500 independent supermarkets, chain stores, military bases and institutions with 100,000-plus products, in addition to operating corporate stores. The company is No. 16 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2021 list of the top retailers of food and consumables in North America.