<Li> price mark every item in the store . </Li> <Li> provide shopping carts for customers, starting in the year 1937 in Oklahoma . </Li> <P> The success of Piggly Wiggly was phenomenal, so much so that other independent and chain grocery stores changed to self - service in the 1920s and 1930s . At its peak in 1932 (see Clarence Saunders), the company operated 2,660 stores and posted annual sales in excess of $180 million . In November 1922, Saunders attempted a squeeze on the substantial short interest in the stock, running the share price up from 40 to 120 and profiting by millions on paper . The Stock Exchange Governors responded by deciding that a corner had been established in Piggly Wiggly and removed the stock from the Board eventually forcing Saunders to turn over his assets to the banks that had financed his leveraged position . Saunders reputedly lost nine million dollars in the attempted corner . </P> <P> Following these events, the company was divided into strategic units and sold to regional grocery chains, including Kroger, Safeway, National Tea, and Colonial . In 1935 all 179 Canadian Piggly Wiggly were also sold to Canada Safeway, which merged with Sobeys in 2013 . </P>

Where does the name piggly wiggly come from