109:, where Saunders took up positions working for the wholesale grocers Shanks, Phillips & Co, as well as William Cole Early. Memphis in this period was booming — the population had soared from 33,000 in 1880 to more than 100,000 by the time the Saunders' arrived. A major river point and railroad junction between the north and south, Memphis was a key distributor of goods to towns and cities throughout the region, whilst cotton merchants often served the dual role of selling wholesale supplies to farms and plantations as well, such that wholesaling was one of the largest industries in Memphis and one of its most lucrative.
86:. Saunders worked the plantation as well throughout his early childhood. By age 11, he was also working in a sawmill and limestone kiln during the summer and at a general store during the holidays. He received only two years of formal education in Palmyra, before quitting school entirely at 14 to work full-time for the general store. Saunders worked a variety of occupations over the next five years throughout the region, including shop assistant, night watchman and sawmill laborer. Recognizing the need for further education to advance, Saunders became a prolific reader and
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220:, "...in mid-August, with the September 1st deadline for repayment of two and a half million dollars on his loan staring him in the face and with nothing like that amount of cash either on hand or in prospect, he resigned as president of Piggly Wiggly Stores, Inc., and turned over his assets—his stock in the company, his
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on the price of Piggly Wiggly stock, gambling the price would fall. With a loan of $ 10 million from a number of
Southern bankers, plus a bit of his own money, Saunders counteracted by buying a large amount of Piggly Wiggly stock in hopes of driving up the price. He flamboyantly declared his intent
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was filed by
Saunders on October 21, 1916, and granted on October 9, 1917 as Patent #1,242,872. Three new patent applications followed, including Patent #1,357,521 for the basic store design. Patent #1,297,405 was filed on February 5, 1918 and granted on March 18, 1919, which covered his means of
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In
February 1913, he created United Stores, Inc., with 21 retail customers, giving Shanks, Phillips control of wholesale purchasing and advertising. A jointly owned United Store was opened in June 1914. Saunders' three children, Lee, Clarence Jr., and Amy Carolyn, were born in 1903, 1909 and 1912
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in newspaper ads. Saunders bought Piggly Wiggly stock until he had orders for 196,000 of the 200,000 outstanding shares. The firm's share price went from a low of $ 39 in late 1922 to $ 124 by March 20, 1923. Pressured by the 'bears', the New York Stock
Exchange declared a 'corner' existed (see
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in a continuous path, were just some of the characteristics of the early Piggly Wiggly stores. The store stocked four times the variety of items normally found in an ordinary grocery store, but did not offer fresh meat in the original store. A refrigerator separated two of the aisles, offering
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to the front of the store. Upon reaching the exit gate at the front of the store, an attendant deciphered the customer's tape and produced the bill. After payment, the customer's groceries were delivered, bagged and wrapped. Pilot stores operated in
Memphis and Chicago, but the complex and
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The store operates so automatically that the customer can collect her groceries herself, wrap them and act as her own cashier. It eliminates the checkout crush, cuts overhead expenses and enables a small staff to handle a tremendous volume... I can handle a $ 2 million volume with only eight
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In the late 1920s, to promote his newest grocery venture, Saunders founded a professional football team. The full name of the team was the
Clarence Saunders Sole Owner of My Name Tigers, but it was usually just called The Tigers. The Tigers played professional teams from around the country,
377:. Peay won in 1922 and gave credit to Saunders' advertising. When Governor Peay ran for a third term in 1926 (Tennessee governors held office for two-year terms at the time) Saunders inexplicably opposed him, using newspaper ads to denounce his former friend. In 1928 Saunders backed
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at the entrance and exit, and cabinets arranged along a continuous path, which ended at a cashier stand complete with adding machine and cash register. The 1,125 square feet (104.5 m) store included a front lobby, the continuous-path middle salesroom, and rear stockroom.
319:. Saunders returned to the idea in 1948, opening an improved version. Saunders sold twelve franchises of the revised concept. In 1949 he predicted "In five years there will be a thousand Keedoozles throughout the US, selling $ 5 billion worth of goods."
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In 1928, Saunders went on to create the
Clarence Saunders, Sole Owner of My Name Stores, Inc. grocery chain. The chain, which was known to the public as Sole Owner stores, initially flourished. However the chain went into bankruptcy in 1930 during the
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backed McAlister. The candidates were completely overshadowed by the newspaper advertising war waged by
Saunders and Crump. Their feud was personal and striking, since few in Memphis had dared challenge Crump, one of the legendary city
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butter and cheese. Bins offered fruits and vegetables, while flour and other bulk goods were pre-packaged and placed near the end of the shopper's journey through the aisles. The concept of the "Self-Serving Store"
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On
November 22, 1935, Saunders chartered the prototype of an automated store. He named it Keedoozle, which some assumed stood for "key does it all", but Saunders stated was just made up, as was Piggly Wiggly.
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invited The Tigers to join their organization, but
Saunders refused their offer. It is said that Saunders disbanded his football team because he did not like to travel to other cities for away games.
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that they placed in the keyhole below the goods they wished to buy. The quantity desired was determined by the number of times the key was inserted in the slot. This action, recorded the item on
149:, self-service branded products, and checkouts at the front. Removing unnecessary clerks, creating elaborate aisle displays, and rearranging the store to force customers to view all of the
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At the time of his death, Saunders was developing plans for another automatic store system called the "Foodelectric". The Foodelectric concept is a clear predecessor to
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In 1921, there were 615 stores in 200 cities and 40 states. By 1923, Piggly Wiggly had grown into 1,267 stores, 667 owned by the company and the rest owned by
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The central invention was a primitive computer, or "shopping brain" which was loaned to the shopper, who then roamed among the store's glass-enclosed items.
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tagging prices next to the grocery item. He was also granted a patent for his idea of giving shoppers a printed receipt from the adding machine tape.
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Saunders was one of the first to use newspaper advertising to campaign for a political candidate, at least in Tennessee. He campaigned for
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In the early 1920s Saunders began construction of a pink marble mansion in Memphis. Then, in early 1923, a group of franchised outlets in
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The success of Piggly Wiggly encouraged a raft of imitators, including Handy Andy stores, Helpy Selfy stores, Mick-or-Mack stores and
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On September 11, 1916, Saunders launched the self-service revolution in the United States by opening the first self-service
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Clarence and Carolyn divorced on September 27, 1928, and Clarence married Patricia Houston Bamberg on December 20, 1928.
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attorney. Despite their contrasting backgrounds, they were married on 6 October 1903. The following year they moved to
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The store, which was to be located two blocks from the first Piggly Wiggly store in downtown Memphis, never opened.
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Saunders developed two versions of the Keedoozle. The first was in 1937, which was abandoned when the US entered
137:. Saunders had renovated his United Store, removing old countertops, and replacing them with characteristic
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in American politics. After 1928 Saunders' fortunes declined, and he did not write political ads again.
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in February 1922. In April of 1922, the company sold 50,000 new shares on the market at $ 43 a share.
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66:, to Abram Warwick and Mary Gregory. Saunders' mother died when he was five. Abram had served in the
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but had struggled financially in the aftermath of the war. In 1891, his father moved the family to
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Clarence Saunders & the Founding of Piggly Wiggly: The Rise and Fall of a Memphis Maverick
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Clarence Saunders & the Founding of Piggly Wiggly: The Rise and Fall of a Memphis Maverick
46:. Saunders worked for most of his life trying to develop a truly automated store, developing
173:. The company employed 250 people in Memphis. Stock in Piggly Wiggly Stores, Inc., paid a
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grocery business for John Hurst and Joseph Boillin, rapidly rising in the business.
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In Clarksville Saunders met Carolyn Amy Walker, the daughter of a prominent
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Crisis and Commission Government in Memphis Elite Rule in a Gilded Age City
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42:. His ideas have had a massive influence on the development of the modern
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The Pink Palace mansion eventually became Memphis' first museum in 1930.
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261:. In 1929, the Tigers beat the Green Bay Packers 20–6. In 1930 the
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536:. New York: Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. pp. 278–279.
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460:. Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press. pp. 4–5.
358:, Saunders made toy wagons, baby strollers and broomsticks.
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The Keedoozle was an automated store, similar to very large
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The original Piggly Wiggly Store, Memphis, Tennessee
30:(August 9, 1881 – October 14, 1953) was an American
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295:beneath. Customers entering the store were given a
556:Economics of Retailing; Paul Henry Nystrom, 1930,
303:in the key, and automatically moved the item via
162:Saunders then listed Piggly Wiggly shares on the
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504:. Charleston: The History Press. p. 59,82.
184:, all of which operated under patented systems.
623:"They're Putting the Glamour in the Groceries"
578:Lauderdale, Vance "Ask Vance: Coach Houses",
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200:(*needs citation) and other speculators on
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90:. At age 19, Saunders had moved to
54:, and Foodelectric store concepts.
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660:. Charleston, SC: History Press.
133:store, at 79 Jefferson Street in
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700:20th-century American inventors
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592:Life magazine, Jan 3, 1949, p36
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62:Saunders was born on a farm in
34:who first developed the modern
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621:Mehling, H (August 9, 1956).
456:Wrenn, Lynette Boney (1998).
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76:Montgomery County, Tennessee
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385:. Memphis political leader
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602:Inventors & Inventions
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263:National Football League
248:The Tigers football team
64:Amherst County, Virginia
566:The Wall Street Journal
164:New York Stock Exchange
145:The store incorporated
656:Freeman, Mike (2011).
500:Freeman, Mike (2011).
375:Clarksville, Tennessee
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92:Clarksville, Tennessee
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627:Saturday Evening Post
532:Brooks, John (2014).
406:U.S. patent 1,242,872
381:for Governor against
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82:on a plantation near
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211:cornering the market
534:Business Adventures
412:Self-serving store
135:Memphis, Tennessee
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107:Memphis, Tennessee
84:Palmyra, Tennessee
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667:978-1-60949-285-4
361:He died in 1953.
259:Green Bay Packers
235:Sole Owner stores
72:Stonewall Jackson
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23:Clarence Saunders
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414:—C. Saunders
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379:Henry Horton
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356:World War II
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317:World War II
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80:sharecropper
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40:self service
36:retail sales
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690:1953 deaths
685:1881 births
387:E. H. Crump
371:Austin Peay
222:Pink Palace
218:John Brooks
202:Wall Street
171:franchisees
151:merchandise
70:army under
68:Confederate
44:supermarket
679:Categories
633:(6): 32–58
419:References
336:employees.
139:turnstiles
88:autodidact
58:Early life
637:31 August
275:Keedoozle
269:Keedoozle
226:creditors
206:bear raid
96:wholesale
52:Keedoozle
38:model of
257:and the
196:failed.
194:New York
177:of 11%.
175:dividend
103:Illinois
354:During
293:keyhole
289:Automat
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398:Patent
392:bosses
156:patent
32:grocer
287:, or
662:ISBN
639:2011
606:ISBN
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506:ISBN
462:ISBN
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
