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vicupstate

By vicupstate
in Greenville

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breed Hamlet

breed

Posted
Posted

I think the fear of the name creating a negative image is unfounded (just my opinion). G'ville and the whole upstate would benefit from embracing positive aspects of southern quirky culture. Stay away from the racist stuff and emphasize the positive stuff. It adds character. When people visit, I want them to see and experience stuff that's unique. So if the 'pig' is a quality grocer - embrace them. Especially if they are a SC company.

Even though I'm a transplanted northerner, I totally agree. There is nothing wrong with something being inextricably southern. There is a big dichomoty in the growing areas of the south... where native southerners feel threatened by outsiders who they perceive to be planning on wiping out any shred of southern culture. While there are some obvious negatives that shouldn't be promoted, the cost of favoring one cultural perception over another is the loss of identity. Greenville is unique. By favoring one a specific cultural heritage over another, that unique sense of place is compromised.

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GvilleSC Megalopolis

GvilleSC

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I still don't have a problem with the Pig. If someone sees it as a hick store because of the name, then so be it, but you could say the same for Bi-lo. It may sound cheap and kinda trashy, who knows? It's just a name. I believe that the individuals who work there, the items they sell, and their customers are what identifies a store. Piggly Wiggly is up there with Publix in my book from my experiences. If someone from the outside views the store and therefore Greenville as a Southern Hick Town, after and ONLY after visiting the store then they can, but if they judge it from the road or even from this forum then I think they're shallow and probably had the opinion already formed. :rolleyes:

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Greenville City

Greenville

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The 'pig' conversation is just too delicious to pass up.

So here are my two cents... At one time I would have been on Skyliner's side in this discussion, but I've changed my tune (sorry man, I generally am in full agreement with all your posts).

I think the fear of the name creating a negative image is unfounded (just my opinion). G'ville and the whole upstate would benefit from embracing positive aspects of southern quirky culture. Stay away from the racist stuff and emphasize the positive stuff. It adds character. When people visit, I want them to see and experience stuff that's unique. So if the 'pig' is a quality grocer - embrace them. Especially if they are a SC company.

Example from another city, when I'm in Boston, I don't want to go to Unos for pizza. I wanna go to Santarpios in East Boston where everybody sounds like a mafioso (and might well be) and they serve the best pizza ever. You wait in line (outside) summer and winter for at least 45 minutes anytime from 4pm - 8pm.

I don't consider Piggly Wiggly (or embracing the pig) as a positive aspect of the southern culture. Farm animals aren't cool to most people. Your Boston pizzeria example, however, is very different. The mafia has been glamourized on television and in movies, and it has a coolness about it. Farming, pigs, etc. simply do not have the same coolness or allure. When people think about pigs, they think about overalls, tractors, and backwards people who live life in the slow lane. I don't really want that associated with Greenville, thus I agree with Skyliner on this one.

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vicupstate Metropolitan Area

vicupstate

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I agree with those that say we should embrace our southern qualities, culture and attributes. Cows are used as a 'cool' symbol for Gateway Computers and Chic-fil-A. Cows are a farm animal. Nobody associates those two companies as southern or unsophisticated.

I guess the folks that don't like Piggly Wiggly for it's name, also don't care for the Lizards Thicket restaurants either.

I remember reading about a new magazine that was starting up, that was meant to be to southern culture and politics what Southern Living was to home decor and gardening. It was to be called "Y'all". I thought it was the perfect name. I haven't heard anything about it since.

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PalmettoChick Unincorporated Area

PalmettoChick

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I remember reading about a new magazine that was starting up, that was meant to be to southern culture and politics what Southern Living was to home decor and gardening. It was to be called "Y'all". I thought it was the perfect name. I haven't heard anything about it since.

You can buy Y'all at Barnes & Noble, or you can order a subscription from http://www.yall.com/.

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Greenville City

Greenville

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I agree with those that say we should embrace our southern qualities, culture and attributes. Cows are used as a 'cool' symbol for Gateway Computers and Chic-fil-A. Cows are a farm animal. Nobody associates those two companies as southern or unsophisticated.

I guess the folks that don't like Piggly Wiggly for it's name, also don't care for the Lizards Thicket restaurants either.

I remember reading about a new magazine that was starting up, that was meant to be to southern culture and politics what Southern Living was to home decor and gardening. It was to be called "Y'all". I thought it was the perfect name. I haven't heard anything about it since.

For what it's worth, I think that the Chick-Fil-A cow ad campaign is irritating. The "Eat Mor Chikin" ads were humorous at first, but it is time for something else.

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goodbye Metropolitan Area

goodbye

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And yes, Lizard's Thicket wasn't a good image for the city of Greenville either. It may have only been this location, but it was rather a sickening place. Piggly Wiggly would make a great name for a rural bar-b-que joint. I'm just telling you, this is what I and several others think about the name. I see Greenville progressing in a different (positive) direction. We're becoming a very international place. There are plenty of local southern traditions in the country near here, as well as within the city itself. But, if PW comes, it comes, and we'll just have to do the best we can to joke about it. :rolleyes:

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dpa Unincorporated Area

dpa

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Piggly Wiggly has two distinctions: it was the first self-service grocery, and has the most mind-catching name of any grocery I know (as this discussion shows). A store with a name that reinforces its own recognition has a savvy asset. Of course its tacky, but so are little animated smileys, and that's not bad. Of course I can imagine, in rare cases, the image of the city in someone's eyes being affected by the name of a regional grocery, but not while simultaneously taking that person seriously - I'd want them to enjoy it, smile, and maybe know the history.

One of the dangers of focusing on image is that it begins to affect the image: some places become affected - they turn into self-parodies. More importantly, they forget that any good city is for everyone. One of the things I want to see in downtown Greenville, as it matures, is a growing range of offerings for a wider set of Greenville people. Gentrification is one source of urban life, but like oxygen, too much of it in the air can stifle growth (this is also true of density).

Meat-and-threes, Piggly Wigglys, Lizard's Thickets, Huddle Houses, Waffle Houses, and the Bus Terminal are authentic, welcome, and needed parts of the mix in my view. Take Main St. - the warm-air Main St. festivals have brought a great mix of folks downtown for years, and the greatest downtowns gradually follow through with something for everyone on the ordinary days, too. Another way of putting it is: downtown needs a Wendy's, and Hot Dog King should stay. A positive direction for Greenville beyond Main St. doesn't leave out regular people or ordinary groceries with memorable names. One measure of Greenville's success is the number of residents who see all that's been done and say "Wow. Ours.", and feel a sense of ownership and pride - and that requires a careful balancing of taste, sense, and breadth. And good luck.

I realize downtown and groceries are two different topics - but the thread's theme ties them together: what belongs in Greenville. The answer is, generally, not just the good things we lack, but the ordinary things we need, and which make you smile. The pig is fun.

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silverseale Whistle-Stop

silverseale

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I think Gene's on Buncombe Street has the best around for meat and whatever vegetables. I liked it some years ago yet I moved onto other things.

Anybody remember Gooder 'n Good (meat 'n 3), that used to be on Rutherford Rd.? When I worked @ Fluor back in the 80's, a group of us lunched there a good bit (the company was still located downtown at the time).

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