Upgrades to Building, Shopping Center Near Completion in Time for Feb. 19 Piggly Wiggly Opening

January 09, 2020

Upgrades to Building, Shopping Center Near Completion in Time for Feb. 19 Piggly Wiggly Opening

BAMBERG, SC – Piggly Wiggly is well on track to open Feb. 19 with “the fast, friendly service you expect from us,” said Charles “Chuck” Fogle, vice president of Fogle’s Inc.

Fogle announced in October that Piggly Wiggly would open in the Heritage Shopping Center, 3386 Railroad Ave. Fogle’s Inc. owns several Piggly Wiggly stores in the area, including one in Denmark, two in Orangeburg, one in Columbia and one in Neeses.

The space, most recently a Bi-Lo that closed in 2018, had to be remodeled. Fogle said it needed a new floor, ceiling, lights and equipment. He also is installing in state-of-the-art, energy-efficient equipment.

“Even the freezers are computer-controlled,” he said at the store, showing rows of new freezers in the process of being installed.

A late December hiring event received a “very good response,” Fogle said. “We are going to have a lot of great employees with smiling faces.” The store will employ 60-70 people.

“We are excited to be in Bamberg,” Fogle said. “It’s home to us, and we are looking forward to a long-term relationship with the people of Bamberg County.”

Joe Pinto, the facility manager, said he helped build the original Piggly Wiggly in that location more than 20 years ago, “and I’m fortunate to be able to help the Fogle family build this one. The Fogles made a commitment and an investment in Bamberg County. It’s just the right thing to do.”

“I can tell you this place has never looked this good,” Pinto said. “Not even when it was built the first time.”

Piggly Wiggly is just one tenant of the Heritage Shopping Center, which includes Family Dollar, World Finance, a beauty supply store and a Chinese restaurant. The entire shopping center is getting a makeover, thanks to new owners, The Vireo Group, a regional retail investment and development company based in Augusta.

Vireo’s director of leasing, Todd Wilson, said the renovations are going well.

“We are in the process of cleaning the retention pond, fixing and painting the facades of the buildings, remodeling the signage, putting new lights in the parking lot and resealing and restriping the parking lot,” he said.

An outparcel has been cleared next to the Burger King, and Vireo Group will develop that and seek a tenant, Wilson said. All renovations will be complete by the time Piggly Wiggly opens.

The Vireo Group partnered with the SouthernCarolina Regional Development Alliance and Bamberg City and County officials to help finalize the deal.