South side Piggly Wiggly holds job fairs. What to expect when store opens Aug. 24
Laporsha Farr is eager to work at the new south side Piggly Wiggly.
Farr, a resident of Spartanburg's south side, is hopeful for a management position at the South Church St. grocery store. Spartanburg City Councilwoman Ruth Littlejohn expects Piggly Wiggly to open on Aug. 24.
On top of the job opportunity, Farr is glad she won't have to travel far for groceries.
"I am so excited to have a grocery store on the south side because I won't have to go to Pine Street or East Main to get groceries," Farr said.
Farr was among the attendees at a job fair for the new Piggly Wiggly held Thursday at the Dr. T.K. Gregg Community Center. Eighty people attended Tuesday's job fair for the grocery store at C.C. Woodson Community Center.
The new grocery store plans to bring 30 to 40 jobs to the area. Thursdays job fairs at the Dr. T.K. Gregg Community Center brought the total number of applicants to 122, meaning only around a third of those who applied will receive employment at first.
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"This is definitely competitive because there will not be enough positions for those who applied initially," store manager David Hayes said Thursday. "But in my experience, you hire 10 people and get six, so we will likely be calling people who do not receive an initial job offer in the next few weeks or months."
Hayes said all employees will make between $10 and $20 an hour. He said cashiers with no experience will start at $10 an hour and management and department heads will start at $20 an hour. Piggly Wiggly is still accepting applications.
Hayes said Piggly Wiggly is prioritizing hiring in its meat department, which is viewed as a priority in a food desert.
Spartanburg Piggly Wiggly amenities
Scheduled to open on Aug. 24, the main grocery store, according to Hayes, will feature a fresh meat department, seafood, produce, dairy, an espresso bar and dry goods.
The Piggly Wiggly will also own the property next door to it in the South Church shopping center, which will house amenities that could not be opened on the same date as the grocery store.
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Hayes said a Rapid Fired Pizza would be part of the phase next to the main store, along with a deli with rotisserie and fried chicken platters, sliced meat, sandwiches and a variety of meat and three vegetable plate options. The area is also expected to have soft serve ice cream. Hayes said this area will open by Thanksgiving.
"The deli side has pushed us back a good bit because of getting all of the equipment, which is why the owner decided to open a separate permit for those amenities and move forward with the general store," Hayes said.
Erasing the south side Spartanburg food desert
Hayes said he is grateful to be a part of the solution to the former food desert.
In a consumer market study on households near the incoming Piggly Wiggly, 17.3% of residents within a 10-minutes-drive have a household income below $10,000 and many residents use public transportation.
"A lot of people I've talked to have had to call an Uber to take them to Cedar Springs, once a week to get their groceries," Hayes said.
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The area is classified as a food desert, meaning an urban area where it is difficult to buy affordable or good-quality fresh food.
Littlejohn describes the store as a "blessing" for those who have experienced the food desert in that area for three years.
Brandi Wylie is an intern for the Spartanburg Herald-Journal and Greenville News. Reach her via email at bwylie@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Spartanburg south side Piggly Wiggly holds job fairs, what to expect
