In November of the same year, the company announced that they were shutting down their distribution centers in North Charleston and Jedburg, South Carolina. The company initiated the acquisition discussions as a means of addressing the debt incurred as a result of its recent ESOP conversion along with increasing competition, particularly around Charleston. In September 2013, it was announced that Piggly Wiggly Carolina would sell 29 of its stores to BI-LO and Harris Teeter all but abandoning the Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia markets. Schools, Burt SchoolsвЂ™ son and Buzzy NewtonвЂ™s nephew, was named president of Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company. In April 2007, after 45 years with Piggly Wiggly, Buzzy Newton retired as president and became chairman of the board. In 2005, the company becomes 100% employee owned and was the largest employee-owned, privately operated retail company in South Carolina, servicing over 100 retail stores with annual sales over $800 million and a workforce of over 6,000 employee-owners throughout South Carolina and southeastern Georgia. In 1999, construction was completed on two large projects, a new corporate office building at Albemarle Point Center and a 612,000 sq. In 1997, Joe Newton died and Burt Schools retired from the company to become chairman of the board. In 1979, Joe Newton retired and became chairman of the board, and his son, Buzzy Newton, was named the president of Piggly Wiggly Carolina Company. Under Joe NewtonвЂ™s guidance and leadership, Piggly Wiggly Carolina, and the name Piggly Wiggly, soon became household names, known for its national brands, fair prices, and friendly service. With the addition of thirty stores from Columbia-based Piggly Wiggly Carolina, the company changed its name to Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co. In the decade that followed, Newton evolved the company from a being strictly a wholesaler operation to become a wholesaler to independent store owners and a supplier of the company's own retail stores. Originally based in downtown Charleston, South Carolina, the company moved the main warehouse to North Charleston, South Carolina in 1959.

In 1958, Joe NewtonвЂ™s son-in-law, Burt Schools, joined the business followed by JoeвЂ™s son, Joseph T. in 1947 when he purchased a Piggly Wiggly Franchise from the Piggly Wiggly Corporation. Piggly Wiggly Wholesale was founded by Joseph T.

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