![]() Just two years earlier, Wall Street had seen a corner in the stock of a car company. At the time, there were no federal securities laws against market manipulation, and corners were not unheard-of. Since Saunders owned nearly all Piggly Wiggly stock, the short sellers would have to buy from him and he could name his price. It soon dawned on Wall Street that Saunders was trying to corner the market so that he could squeeze the short sellers, who would be forced to buy high and therefore take a big loss. Having fallen as low as $39, it rose to nearly $60 by the end of 1922, and it kept going. The New York Daily News warned Wall Street to “put locks on safes” because “Clarence is here with the open and avowed purpose of teaching New York the financial game.” By March 1923, Saunders controlled more than 198,000 shares, or 99 percent of all Piggly Wiggly stock.Īll this buying inevitably pushed the stock price up. ![]() In late 1922, newspapers reported that Saunders and four armed guards had arrived in New York on a private train from Memphis, carrying suitcases stuffed with a million dollars. Within a week, he had scooped up more than 100,000 of the 200,000 outstanding shares of Piggly Wiggly. He took out a loan for $10 million (about $150 million today) and went on a buying spree. It didn’t deter him that, aside from his existing holdings of Piggly Wiggly stock, he had never before traded a single share of any stock on the New York Stock Exchange. He decided that he would “break Wall Street” by buying Piggly Wiggly stock and driving the price back up. In recounting this episode, I’ve drawn from that book as well as contemporaneous newspaper and magazine accounts.) Wall Street was swooping down on Piggly Wiggly “like an eagle on a chicken,” Saunders thought. (John Brooks tells the story of Saunders’ battle with the short sellers in his book Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales From the World of Wall Street. When Saunders learned about these short sellers, he was livid. Although this was no fault of Saunders’ or his company’s, some big Wall Street traders sensed that the stock might be vulnerable and that they could make a tidy profit by selling it short-that is, by borrowing shares to sell high, rebuying them when the stock dropped, and pocketing the difference when they returned them. But in the fall of 1922, several independent franchises in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey went bankrupt. With steady revenues and rising profits, Piggly Wiggly became a reliable security to own. The success of Piggly Wiggly caught the eye of Wall Street, and in February 1922 the New York Stock Exchange listed its stock for trading. Saunders named the house “Cla-Le-Clare” after his children, but everyone in Memphis just called it the Pink Palace because of its pink marble facade. ![]() Among his purchases was a 160-acre plot of land outside Memphis, where he started building a mansion that was to include a waterfall, a bowling alley, and an 18-hole golf course with one hole located on its own island. And when it came to spending his money, Saunders had opulent tastes. Piggly Wiggly expanded, Saunders became rich.1928 Polk’s Oakland, California City Directory.OMCA Collections: 40th Street at Piedmont Avenue Oakland Museum of California.Oakland History Center, Oakland Public Library College Avenue, looking north toward Shafter Ave.1 1928 directory listi30th and Grove (MLK) 6Ĭirca 1927, Piggly Wiggly sponsored an amateur baseball team in Oakland. This is taken from the east side of the street at Lawton. The store with the "CIGARS" sign is now the bar Ye Old Hut. Also visible is the Uptown Theater, Campbell’s Shoes, and Tower’s Gift Shop with “Merry Christmas” banner over the street. Piggly Wiggly Store, College Avenue looking north toward Shafter Avenue in the Rockridge District, Oakland, California - 1930. “was one of the earliest grocery chains, established by Andrew Williams about 1921.” 2 Piggly Wiggly Pacific was purchased by Safeway Stores in 1928, and all existing Piggly Wigglies in Oakland were converted to Safeways by the mid-1930s - which helps explain why over 80 Safeway stores are listed in the 1941 Polk’s City Directory for Oakland. 3Īccording to OMCA Collections, Piggly Wiggly Pacific Co., Inc. One was on College Avenue in Rockridge another was at 3966 Piedmont Avenue. The 1928 Polk’s City Directory for Oakland lists fully 39 stores citywide (plus another 11 in Berkeley and 4 in Alameda). The Piggly Wiggly grocery-store chain was heavily represented in 1920s and 1930s Oakland. Note the "All Over the World" slogan on the sign, and the "We Double dog dare anyone to undersell this store" painted on the window.
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