[4/13/04]After a 30-year absence, there will be a Piggly Wiggly again in Vicksburg.

James Morgan, owner of Morgan’s Bestway, is changing the name of his 13-year-old supermarket to Piggly Wiggly in a little less than a month.

Morgan bought the store, near Fisher Ferry and Halls Ferry roads, from J.M. Tidwell, who had opened it as Big Star several years before.

The reason for associating with the Piggly Wiggly brand name is simple, Morgan said.

“We wanted to try to get a new image,” he said.

The Piggly Wiggly Corp. was one of America’s first supermarket chains. It has been around since 1916, when Clarence Saunders of Memphis determined there was a better way to shop for groceries than giving the order to a clerk who then gathered the customers’ purchases. His idea was to give the shopper a cart to gather items from shelves and take them to a clerk.

The last Piggly Wiggly in Vicksburg, located at 1527 Walnut St., closed in the 1970s and the other one, at 1020 Grove St., closed years before.

There will be advantages to joining the national chain, Morgan said.

“We will have three brand names, Piggly Wiggly, Shur Fine and Price Saver,” he said, adding he has been carrying the Shur Fine and Price Saver labels for some time.

In addition to attracting more people to the store, Morgan said he will be getting help with his advertising. Since opening, he and his store staff have been putting together their own newspaper ads. When the association with the chain takes place about May 1, he will be able to tap into the expertise of Piggly Wiggly’s advertising design staff.

“Our ads will be full color and look like Kroger and the others,” he said.

Morgan said they have already done some work in preparation for the change. The interior of the store has been painted and soon a fresh coat will cover the outside.

“We’ve gotten our new sign approved by the Zoning Board,” he said.

Morgan’s other store, Oak Park Bestway, will not be affected by the change.

Morgan also owns a grocery in Tallulah.