Clarence Saunders & the Founding of Piggly Wiggly: The Rise & Fall of a Memphis Maverick

Clarence Saunders & the Founding of Piggly Wiggly: The Rise & Fall of a Memphis Maverick
ISBN-10
1625842074
ISBN-13
9781625842077
Category
Biography & Autobiography
Pages
185
Language
English
Published
2019-10-07
Publisher
Arcadia Publishing
Author
Mike Freeman

Description

The life and career—including both the highs and the lows—of the visionary businessman who started the iconic supermarket chain. The grocery business began as a complicated service industry. Random pricing, inconsistent quantities and prescriptive salesmen made grocery shopping burdensome. It took one brash Memphian with uncommon vision and unbridled ambition to change everything. Clarence Saunders worked his way out of poverty and obscurity to found Piggly Wiggly in 1916. With an unprecedented approach, he virtually invented the concept of the modern self-service grocery store. Stores flourished, franchises spread, and Saunders made millions. Yet just as the final bricks of Pink Palace—his garish marble mansion—were being laid, Saunders went bankrupt, and he was forced to sell Piggly Wiggly. A variety of new ventures helped Saunders out of bankruptcy, but he never duplicated his prior success. Memphis historian Mike Freeman tracks the remarkable life of this retail visionary.

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