By Keysha Drexel
Journal editor
The owner of a grocery store that closed in November said he “heard loud and clear that Crestline wants its Piggly Wiggly back” and said plans are in the works to make it happen.
Andy Virciglio, who also owns Piggly Wiggly stores in Homewood and River Run, said last week he is excited about announcing the full plan to open a new store in Crestline Village in Mountain Brook.
“For 30 years, our family has been a part of the Crestline community and along with our other Mountain Brook store in River Run, we know this is a great fit,” Virciglio said in a statement.
The preliminary plans for the new Crestline store were unveiled Feb. 24 at the Mountain Brook City Council meeting by Robert Jolly of Retail Specialists, the group working with Virciglio and Naseem Ajlouny and his brother, who are store operators and will partner with the Virciglio family.
“My brother Basim and I join the Virciglio family in the continued commitment to Mountain Brook and know that the Crestline store will be even better than before,” Ajlouny said in a statement.
Jolly told those gathered at the city council meeting last week that the new Piggly Wiggly would be designed like a boutique grocery store and would be larger than the 11,400-square-foot former Crestline store. Jolly said the new store would be similar to the Piggly Wiggly in River Run.
When Jolly presented the preliminary plans to build a new store in the space of the existing CVS/Pharmacy, he reminded those gathered at the meeting that the plans are contingent on the pharmacy moving.
In January, CVS/Pharmacy announced it would vacate its current space at 49 Church Street and move to the former Piggly Wiggly site at the corner of Oak Street and Euclid Avenue.
Last summer, news broke that the Crestline Piggly Wiggly might close due to stalled lease negotiations between store owners and the property owners.
The owner of the property the Piggly Wiggly leased decided to go in a different direction even though Piggly Wiggly’s owners wanted to remain as a tenant.
Residents launched a “Save the Pig” campaign on social media, but the store closed just before the holiday season began in November. Residents held an appreciation celebration for the store’s employees and reminisced about the store’s long history in the community.
Soon after the preliminary plans for the new Crestline store were unveiled on Feb. 24, the “Save the Pig” Facebook page lit up with messages from happy residents.
“We applaud how the property owners, community leaders, city officials, visionary real estate people and everyone else worked together in a ‘community first’ approach to put a plan like this is place,” Ajlouny said. “This is a true win-win for everyone involved, and it will be wonderful to have the Piggly Wiggly return to Crestline.”
