The local news in Denton, Texas, this week included the closing of the two Piggly Wiggly grocery stores in town. While this doesn't compare to the President speaking in Cairo or the Texas Rangers leading their division, it does elicit a certain sense of nostalgia. These are the last two known Piggly Wigglys operating in Texas. I may be one of the people responsible for their closing. In almost two years of living in Denton and fifteen years working in Denton, I have only been in one of the stores and that was only one time. I think I bought some candy - not a big purchase.
But my nostalga is not about the last ones in Texas; rather, it goes all the way back to my childhood in Temple, Texas, where my mother seemed to always shop the small grocers - Dooleys in Troy, Wrights, Spot Cash, and Piggly Wiggly all in Temple. The thing that stands out to me fifty plus years later is that all the employees seem to know your name and knew where everything was on every shelf. As a child, I often ate a package of Mrs. Braid's chocolate cupcakes while we shopped. At the checkout counter, the clerk rang up an empty wrapper. If you went to one of these stores to run an errand for your Mom, you could tell the clerk what you needed and they could tell you what brand your mother usually bought. It was a day of personal service that has slowly slipped away as the smaller gives way to the larger. The need today is to recapture the friendliness and customer service of the smaller and place it in the larger. I just shop better at the grocery store if I am eating chocolate cupcakes.
1 comment:
Gary I grew up in McClarty's Food Store run by our family in Abilene. I knew the customer's by their names like "Coach" for A.B. Morris, Roy, JW, etc. I not only knew the place where the Hunt's tomato sauce was on the self, but knew the price since I had marked the price on each can. We provided credit for many of our customers by their signing the adding machine tape. Many college professors would not have had food for the full month without their no interest account due when they were paid by the college. I always asked Coach if he wanted potato chips when he bought bread. It was a joy to meet with Lora and Rochelle on your staff this past week at ISC 2009 and see their sincere interest in providing service to the churches in your association. I look forward to working with them and your churches to find just the right tools for your churches. I still remeber the service that we gave in my Dad's store and hope that I can honor him by continuing to extend it to the churches God sends my way.
Ron McClarty
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