The parking lot at Greenwood’s Abney Plaza has sat largely empty since Piggly Wiggly closed last week.
But for many residents in the surrounding neighborhood, the loss means more than an empty storefront. It means one less place to buy fresh food close to home.
Andrea White, executive director of the Food Bank of the Lakelands, said the store’s closure could deepen existing challenges for residents living in the area, particularly those with limited transportation.
The Piggly Wiggly, at 1160 S. Main St., closed Friday, Oct. 9. A grocery store has been at that address for more than five decades. According to Index-Journal archives, the store originally opened as a Piggly Wiggly on Dec. 4, 1973 but was converted to a Price Wise grocery in the mid-2000s. The store was then converted back to Piggly Wiggly in 2018.
Brittany Boatwright, one of the store’s employees, declined to comment when asked why the grocery store closed, Thursday.
Food accessWhite described the Piggly Wiggly as the only grocery store within Census Tract 9705 that nearby residents could walk to. According to census.gov, a census tract is “a small, relatively permanent geographic region used by the U.S. Census Bureau to count people and collect neighborhood data.”
Even before its closure, the food bank regularly served people who struggled to afford groceries or faced other financial difficulties.
With Piggly Wiggly closing, we’ll probably see an influx of people,” White said, noting that the store provided fresh produce and other groceries within walking distance of many neighborhood residents. With its closure, the nearest large grocery store is now a 20- to 30-minute walk each way.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey five-year estimates, Census Tract 9705 has an estimated population of 5,025 and a median household income of $21,261.
An estimated 39.4% of residents in the tract live below the poverty line, more than double Greenwood County’s estimated poverty rate of 15.1%.
The figures describe the census tract as a whole.
For residents without reliable transportation, White said reaching other supermarkets in Greenwood may present an additional challenge. Their location helps reduce transportation barriers for people who might otherwise struggle to access food and other assistance.
“People can’t access the fresh produce and vegetables that other people can that can drive to their local Publix, Food Lion and those outlying grocery stores,” White said.
The Food Bank of the Lakelands stands near other assistance organizations, including a soup kitchen and United Way resources.
Nourishing the LakelandsThe food bank is also working to expand access to fresh produce through a $50,000 Nourishing the Lakelands grant received earlier this summer.
White said the organization received the funding has used part of it to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables through a partnership with Fenway’s Pharmacy.
The produce has included collard greens, squash, apples and broccoli.
The grant also supports the development of a garden behind the food bank and soup kitchen, where the organization is working to restore planting beds and prepare the space for future growing seasons.
“We probably won’t be able to immediately have like a bounty full of fresh produce, but it’s a start,” White said.
The garden is still a work in progress, with additional preparation and maintenance needed before it can consistently provide food.
White added the food bank also welcomes fresh produce donations from local farmers and residents with home gardens.
Working familiesFor White, the challenges surrounding food access extend beyond the closure of one grocery store.
The food bank regularly serves working families who struggle to cover groceries, housing, health insurance and other necessities, even while maintaining employment.
White pointed to ALICE households, a term used by United Way to describe people who are Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed.
These households earn above the federal poverty level but still struggle to afford basic living expenses.
According to United For ALICE’s 2024 data, 46% of Greenwood County’s 29,298 households fell below the ALICE Threshold, a measure of whether households earn enough to afford basic necessities.
That includes 4,715 households living in poverty and another 8,867 classified as ALICE, meaning their incomes were above the federal poverty level but insufficient to cover basic household expenses.
“It’s not just those people that are unemployed or unhoused that have these issues,” White said. “There are people that, you know, work every day, have homes, and [are] still just trying to make ends meet.”
As costs continue to rise, the food bank remains a resource for residents struggling to meet their needs.
“That’s why we’re here,” White said, “to be able to help offset some of those costs and some of those issues.”
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