Martin was quoted in local media as saying the store was open to help people get the necessities. On the Sunday after Hurricane Matthew hit, the Piggly Wiggly at Coligny was the only grocery store to open on the island, even though the store had no power and trees were down in the parking lot. No wonder Piggly Wigglys have been mentioned in Southern movies like “Steel Magnolias” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” The Piggly Wiggly at Coligny is as summery as bare feet, outdoor showers and sand in the sheets. You’ve got to love a walkable-to-the-beach grocery where store owner David Martin, son of original owner Gene, can often be found among the aisles offering to help customers.ĭavid once showed me where to find the jellyfish sting ointment for my stung child while showing off his own impressive jellyfish sting rash. There’s also an impressive wine selection, South-Carolina grown jams, jellies and sauces, beach basics, tourist trinkets and the often-photographed big wooden pig out front. That’s evident by the summer crowd perusing through “Big on the Pig” T-shirts, onesies and mugs in the store’s Pig Corner.
With Piggly Wigglys erased from Savannah and fancy-schmancy Whole Foods having replaced Hilton Head’s only other Pig in Shelter Cove, the Pig at Coligny has become even more special.
Today, the store is a locally owned treasure on an island teeming with megastores, including a Bi-Lo across the street and a Publix and Harris Teeter down the road. When I was a kid visiting Hilton Head each summer, we used to go to Piggly Wiggly at Coligny when it was still Gene Martin’s Red & White, the first grocery store on Hilton Head.īack in the 1970s, it was just the regular grocery store that place near Coligny’s The Ice Cream Cone and the now-bygone putt-putt course that ended with players hitting the ball into a faux alligator’s mouth. Summer is all about traditions, whether it’s cannonballs off the diving board or counting the stairs on the climb up the Harbour Town lighthouse. This season, when childhood reigns, makes me nostalgic for my own childhood traditions, from firefly-catching in Atlanta to wave-riding on Hilton Head. Picking up steamed local shrimp from the Pig’s back-of-the-store Fish & Tail shop for Fourth of July is among my summertime rituals when staying at my mom’s on Hilton Head Island. It’s like finding that one authentic barefoot beach bum in a sea of Parrothead yuppies. On this posh island with $275 tee times and $6,000-a-week, three-bedroom rentals, the vintage Piggly Wiggly is a refreshing, down-to-earth relic. And yes, the landmark store has a sign that boldly lists butt wipes right above paper towels and bread on Aisle 10. Yes, there’s still a Piggly Wiggly within about an hour’s drive from Savannah. That sign atop Aisle 10 in the Piggly Wiggly at Coligny Plaza attracts the attention of many kids - mine included - when shopping at the five-decade-old, eclectic Hilton Head Island institution. “The preacher says all my sins are washed away, including that Piggly Wiggly I knocked over in Yazoo.’’ - Delmar O’Donnell, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
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