Where In The Sioux Empire Was Your Local Piggly Wiggly?

Want to know two words you don't hear much anymore around Sioux Falls and the Sioux Empire?

Piggly Wiggly.

A few of us were visiting here at the radio ranch that is Results Radio/Townsquare Media the other day, just kind of shootin' the breeze when for some reason I mentioned that as a kid my folks would go to Piggly Wiggly for groceries.

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I got the 'deer in the headlights' look. Crickets chirped. An awkward silence.

'Piggly what? Huh?'

So once again I was reminded that, despite my beautifully sculpted bald head and unlimited vim and vigor, I am indeed wearing an older person's skin.

Once upon a time just about any town of a certain size had a Piggly Wiggly grocery store. For our little southwest Minnesota farm family, it was Pipestone...or maybe Luverne. It's been a few years since those days, so the 'ol memory is a little foggy, but it was one or the other...or maybe both.. And I'll bet there was one near you, too.

Google Maps

It seems like the competition was Piggly Wiggly or Red Owl (Red Owl. There's another one.). So, as with an increasing number of things at my age, I wondered whatever happened to Piggly Wiggly?

Figuring they had long ago moved into the dustbin of history, I was surprised when I Googled them.

My goodness, Piggly Wiggly is some several hundred stores strong according to their website.

MORE OF RANDY'S MEMORIES:

So I looked and looked and looked...and found out that a vast majority of those stores are down south. Looked to me like Alabama has about a hundred Piggly Wiggly's. They're in Arkansas, Kentucky, Georgia, and Louisiana. And what about 'round these parts?

Well, Minnesota has one in Duluth...WAIT. Update, the Minnesota ones are gone.

Nothing for either Dakota, Iowa, or Nebraska. Apparently in the few years since I was a kid, Piggly Wiggly became snowbirds.

Well, I hope they're doing well. Piggly Wiggly is a warm memory from 'back in the day'.

Grumpy Old Men's Minnesota Filming Locations

Does your family have some Family Movies? I mean those films that get played a lot in your house. The go-to bits of joy that make a day better, and are far more fun than watching The Weather Channel for an hour.

Growing up, our family movies included Grease (my parent's favorite movie), Bill and Ted, and Back to the Future. Now, with my spouse and kids, our family movies include Twister and Wall-E in heavy rotation. We also have long been obsessed with the Grumpy Old Men films.

The movie Grumpy Old Men, and its sequel, take place in Minnesota. They’re about a pair of lifelong frenemies, Max and John, played by Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon. They’re a couple of grumps living their retirement ice fishing and tormenting each other.

The movie was written and directed by Hastings, Minnesota native Mark Steven Johnson. And he made The Land of 10,000 Lakes one of the stars of the film.

The 1993 movie was shot in Minnesota, mainly at locations around Minneapolis and St Paul. Which means many of the locations are still there. So, we decided to take a Grumpy Old Men tour and see where they filmed this classic.

Gallery Credit: Ben Kuhns

32 Things to Do in Sioux Falls This Summer That Are Absolutely Free!

Sure, there are tons of things to do in the Sioux Empire every summer, but if your entertainment budget is small (or zero), we have the solution - actually, we have lots of solutions.

Here is a list of family-friendly (and some, just adult-friendly) events happening this summer in the Sioux Falls area that you should check out. Oh, the best part, everything on this list is FREE.

Gallery Credit: Karla Brown

Source: Where In The Sioux Empire Was Your Local Piggly Wiggly?

Filed Under: South Dakota, Randy's Minnesota Memories

Categories: Articles, Entertainment