The Market Common’s Piggly Wiggly will close its doors

The Piggly Wiggly location at The Market Common is closing, according to a manager at the store and a manager of the development.

Michael Byrd, the manager, confirmed that the 40,000-square-foot store is planning to close but declined to comment further to The Sun News.

“It is true, but I can’t really speak much more about it right now,” Byrd said. “They’re going to put out a press release next week.”

Heather Gray, the general manager of The Market Common, said her organization is “disappointed and saddened” the store is pulling out, and called Myrtle Beach “a highly competitive market for grocers.”

Gray said she did not know when the store will be officially closed.

“We’re open to speaking with anyone of that size volume that would complement the other stores that we have there,” she said.

Gray stopped short of saying the space was only open to grocers, however. She said she had not personally been given a reason for the departure.

Representatives of Homefed Corp., which owns The Market Common, could not be reached for comment by phone.

The Myrtle Beach area has recently seen growth in its grocery options, with a new Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market coming to 17th Avenue South and two new Aldi stores planned. The closest grocery stores to the closing Piggly Wiggly are the Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market at 3650 Walton Heath Dr, within two miles of the store, and the Food Lion at 3890 South Kings Hwy, roughly three miles away.

Cal Harrelson, a resident of the area around The Market Common who is building a house in the Sweetgrass development, said he was sad to see the store go.

“We hate to see it close,” he said. “Having a grocery store kind of helps complete the circle of life in The Market Common. All we need is a drugstore and a Chick-fil-A, and we’d have it made.”

The Market Common’s Piggly Wiggly is the last corporate-owned location in South Carolina, Gray said.

This story was originally published September 22, 2016 at 5:19 PM with the headline "The Market Common’s Piggly Wiggly will close its doors."