Like many local shops and restaurants, NoFo has been impacted by the pandemic, as well as the shift to online shopping. Remembering Raleigh's past, and saving local culture today "It killed me to see the Piggly Wiggly close. Like many others, Martin grieved the loss of the Piggly Wiggly and the shift away from the neighborhood main street. He knew me, my mother, my children by name. "He always helped us get our groceries to the car. Martin especially recalls a man named Richard Walker, whose photo hangs in NoFo, who she calls 'the heart of Piggly Wiggly.' "You could settle your bill at the end of the month," she says. Martin says she recalls when grocery shopping meant walking to the nearest store, picking up your items, and not even paying right away. There were two groceries, a hardware store, dry cleaning, a bank and the post office.
This is the main street of the Five Points neighborhood. This little strip of business that supported local neighborhoods. "It just kills me when the city talks about building all these 'mixed-use communities,' says Martin. It signaled the end of an era, and major changes in downtown Raleigh. Martin says many in the surrounding community, including herself, were distraught when The Pig closed its doors. Isn't that cute?"įitting, for a store so well-known for its incredible ham. "And right here, there's a pig running from the butcher. They look just like four people who used to work there," says Martin. "You can also see some of the employees in the painting. The mural, which was based on a black and white photograph of the grocery store, features some of the iconic relics still visible in NoFo today – proving how much was rescued during the remodeling. "But everyone who lived nearby just called it 'The Pig,'" says Martin.
In 1958, he took on the Piggly Wiggly franchise. In 1952, Jack Morgan opened the Tip Top grocery in the space. Like a magical piece art from Mary Poppins, a colorful mural at the entranceway to NoFo at The Pig provides a portal back in time to the heyday of the Piggly Wiggly. It's a space that allows people to remember the Raleigh they grew up in. In a city that's growing and changing constantly, Martin has managed to create a space that feels modern, while still maintaining its roots in the culture of the Historic Five Points neighborhoods. One of the most visible artifacts is a huge, fading sign from the original store. The downstairs dining area is decorated with black and white photos of days gone by, including one large image of the store during its heyday. Above the outside deck, she even preserved the clock that once hung on the back wall of The Pig. Martin, who remembers shopping at the old neighborhood grocery store for many years, even kept some of the shopping carts to use as planters outdoors. Where old stickers mark 'broccoli' and 'cob corn,' the grocery case is instead overflowing with old-fashioned stuffed animals.Įven the full-service bar in the downstairs restaurant was built using hundreds of faded cans of Piggy Wiggly brand vegetables. Here, interior designers from around the South share their predictions for what's trending in kitchen design for 2022 and beyond.Maintaining the store's original character, culture and memory was part of owner Jean Martin's goal when she took over the space and began remodeling in the late 1990s and early 2000s.Įxploring the modern-day space is almost like a scavenger hunt for relics from the store's pastĪbove shelves of quirky local art and nostalgic North Carolina trinkets, words like 'Delicatessen' and 'Grocery' mark the previous aisles of the former grocery store.Īn old, blue grocery case can still be found along the back wall – complete with faded stickers where Piggly Wiggly barcodes can still be seen. We're turning away from big-box stores and toward vintage items-first, out of necessity due to supply-chain issues, and now, for design reasons-to add charm and character to every room in the house, including the kitchen. An overall trend toward celebrating the history and originality of our homes is displacing ultramodern aesthetics and sharp lines as we all look to create cozier, colorful, more personalized spaces that better suit our lifestyles. 16 Kitchen Design Trends Southern Designers Predict Will Be Everywhere in 2022 There's no denying how the pandemic fundamentally changed the world-including how we live (and work) inside our homes.
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