At the end of a newspaper interview in the Summit Piggly Wiggly parking lot, a car pulls up beside co-owner Wayne Vinson and a gray-haired woman calls, “Hey, neighbor!”
Vinson goes to the window and leans in for a hug. “Hey, girl!” he says.
They chat, and when she drives off he says, “Good to see you, precious!”
The unscripted interaction illustrates exactly what the Summit grocery store is all about.
“We are the only Pike County-owned and -operated supermarket,” says Vinson’s partner, Ron Jones.
“Our customers are a blessing. We are so blessed,” Vinson says.
And not just the customers. Vinson and Jones were heartbroken when longtime employee Artis Brown died Nov. 21 at age 62.
“You talk about a child of God,” Vinson says of Brown, who stayed busy “loving people and taking care of them.”
Vinson recalls when Brown started work 14 years ago and Jones pointed her out to him.
“Ron said, ‘Ain’t she great?’ I said, ‘Ain’t He great? That’s the Lord flowing out of her,’ ” Vinson says.
People expect more than friendliness from a grocery store, however, and Piggly Wiggly has it.
“We’ve been here 20 years and still got the best meat market around,” Vinson says.
“We’ve got about 120 years of experience back there,” adds co-owner and expert butcher Fred Nunnery. “You’ve got a bunch of old-school meat cutters that know how to take care of customers, just giving them what they want.”
From soup bones to souse meat, whole pork loin to ribeyes, turkeys to hams, the meat department has a wide selection.
“It’s fresh-cut meat, not been sitting on the shelf 15 days gassed,” Jones says.
The store expanded its produce selection after installing all-new refrigerated and frozen cases this year.
“In the last year we’ve replaced every case in that store,” Jones says, citing cases for meat, produce, dairy and frozen foods.
“We’re trying to dodge GMO’s (genetically modified organisms) and trying to get as much organics as we can to go along with other items,” Vinson says. “We’re a small venue, so if you don’t see it, ask for it. It’ll be here in two to three days.”
The business, which has 26 employees, may be small compared to giant box stores, but it’s plenty spacious. It’s also conveniently located at the corner of Highway 51 and Baldwin Street, just south of Robb Street in Summit.
“We take care of them, get them in and out of here,” Vinson says of customers.
“We are cheaper and price-competitive, especially on meat and produce, than anywhere in town. We know how to do it and still make a living,” he says.
Customers don’t just come from Summit, Nunnery says, citing folks from Centreville, Gloster, Bogue Chitto, Jayess and Magnolia.
“I have people call me from Magnolia all the time, ‘What have you got on sale this week?’ ”
Piggly Wiggly is located at 605 Laurel St., Summit. Hours are 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.
