Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Piggly Wiggly Has New Owner

Gurdon's Piggly Wiggly grocery store is now under new ownership and management.

Andy Riethmaier, who owns two Piggly Wiggly stores in Arkadelphia, purchased the ailing Gurdon store last week. Riethmaier said he has been interested in the Gurdon store for three or four years, but never had the opportunity to buy it.

He said he knew the former owner, who never expressed the desire to sell until recently.

Riethmaier has been in the grocery business for 23 years, starting at the bottom as a sacker with Kroger. From there, he went to produce while in college, and worked his way into the meat department, then entering Kroger's management program, where he stayed for six years.

From Kroger. Riethmaier went to work with Malone and Hodge in Memphis, Tenn. He worked with Malone and Hodge for six years as well, before purchasing the two stores in Arkadelphia.

"The most immediate thing," he said of the Gurdon store, "is to restock and straighten things up. There's a lot of basic things which haven't been done; a lot of maintenance to catch up on."

Riethmaier said some remodeling will be done to the interior of the store, and new signs will be posted throughout the establishment. Most changes, he said, will be done around the first of the year. Right now, the important thing is to get the shelves stocked with groceries. "We'll make a better store of it," he said.

"We will be involved in the community," he continued. "I believe as a business we owe it to put back into the community, not just take from it. A town should be better because we're here. We'll invest in Gurdon."

The new manager will be Mitchell Austin, who has worked with Riethmaier for six and a half years. "I have complete confidence in him and his ability to run the store," Riethmaier said.

Austin, originally from Malvern, has worked at all 10 Piggly Wiggly stores in Arkansas and two in Mississippi. He began his career in the grocery business as a bag boy at Malvern's Food Center at the age of 16. "It's all I've ever done," he said of the business.

Austin raises wild animals, such as deer and raccoon, and has raised exotic animals like cougars. In his spare time, he enjoys riding his quarter horse.

Riethmaier and his wife, Sherry, have two boys, Matt, 16, and Jon 13.