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rom food desert to pick of the litter, Oriental’s Piggly Wiggly grocery store celebrated its tenth anniversary as a community staple. But this little piggy almost didn’t come to market.

The local Piggly Wiggly marked its decade of service to the Oriental community with a commemorative barbecue lunch on Thursday, May 28. The event was free and open to all, with six-packs of soda, bags of chips and leftover cupcakes sent home with any straggling attendees.

Piggly Wiggly owner Billy Flockhart and Mayor Sally Belangia celebrate the Piglet’s 10th anniversary.

Cars lined up for nearly 500 feet along Broad Street, as the normally plentiful number of spots in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot were all taken. Jim Kellenberger’s grill and smoker backed into the southwest corner of the lot, where a tent shaded about a dozen tables.

Billy Flockhart, owner of the small store – informally called The Pig or The Piglet – and a regular onsite presence, was the master of ceremonies, reading aloud the names of raffle winners for gift cards, and even a timed shopping spree. Servers, representing the deli company Boar’s Head, handed out samples of turkey sandwiches and bruschetta made using their in-store products. Volunteers, including Oriental Mayor Sally Belangia, served up hot dogs and hamburgers. Store General Manager Eddie Wynn passed out desserts.

Volunteers serve hotdogs and hamburgers to hungry guests.

The tables held about 130 people, Billy says, and it was standing room only until the very end.

“It looked like half of Oriental was out here,” Billy says. “We’re so glad, as we’re doing it for them.”

Allison Bradburn has been coming from Raleigh to Oriental with her husband, Sam, since 2017, when her parents settled permanently in the village. Allison and Sam attended the Pig’s anniversary event with their two young sons, Levi and Asher. They recalled the grand opening of the store, back when they still had no children and only a dog.

Sam Bradburn and his son at play. In front of him, newspapers marking the opening of the Oriental Piggly Wiggly in 2016.

“Anytime we need something, we just go to the Pig,” Allison says. “Where else am I going to get a fresh pot pie?”

Brittany Segura and Dan Hintz moved to Oriental in 2023 from Colorado. They both work remotely and took their lunch breaks away from home to attend the celebratory lunch. Both Brittany and Dan remarked how the Pig is essential to their quality of life.

“We probably wouldn’t have moved here if Oriental didn’t have a grocery store,” Dan says. “We were concerned about that, and having something for at least the basics. It’s something we looked for when we first came out to visit.”

“I love that we have the Pig and the Dollar General,” Brittany says. “And that everything else is a mom-and-pop shop.”

Brittany Segura and Dan Hintz moved to Oriental in 2023.

But the ease of obtaining groceries in Oriental was not always guaranteed.

Before Oriental’s Piggly Wiggly came to fruition, the Broad Street location was operating as a small Walmart Express grocery store and gas station starting in 2014. Just down the road, the Town and Country grocery store had shuttered its doors in October 2015, after 40 years in business. It cited strain from the new competition.

A few months later, Walmart announced it was closing the Express grocery store in Oriental after only two years. Not only would this leave the town without a grocery store, in light of the recent closure of Town and Country, but the corporation initially would not sell to local grocer Billy Flockhart.

“They wanted to sell in 50-store blocks,” he says. “They had 250 of these small ones for sale.”

The national news media got involved, with ABC World News Tonight host David Muir paying a visit to feature the small town now without access to a grocery store due to the actions of a large corporation.

Town residents also started to organize.

“This was a food desert for a little while,” Billy says. “The Oriental Food Initiative formed in partnership with the town to find another grocery store neighbor. That was really instrumental in getting me here.”

Billy Flockhart plays Master of Ceremonies at the 10th anniversary celebration.

Here’s the timeline:

• May 2014: A Walmart Express Store opens just outside Oriental town limits
• October 2015: Town-n-Country Grocery Store closes, Oriental Food Initiative formed
• October 2015: Grafitti on the boarded up Town-n-Country Store
• November 2, 2015: TownDock.net runs grafitti photo on front cover
• January 15, 2016: Walmart announces closing of all Walmart Express Stores
• January 16, 2016: TownDock.net runs story interviewing former Town-n-Country Manager
• Mid January 2016: Extensive coverage on TownDock.net homepage
• January 23, 2016: Bloomberg contacts TownDock.net about Walmart closing in Oriental
• January 25, 2016: Bloomberg runs a story about Walmart Express closing in Oriental
• January 26, 2016: NBC National Evening News runs the story about food deserts, including Oriental
• January 27, 2016: Town Meeting by Oriental Food Initiative at The Old Theater to discuss the food desert
• January 28, 2016: ABC National Evening News broadcast the story from the Town-n-Country parking lot
• April 2016: Billy Flockhart now owns the former Walmart Express building
• July 2016: The Oriental Piggly Wiggly opens

Billy Flockhart in 2016, standing in what would become the Oriental Piggly Wiggly.

For the past decade, business has been up year after year, and Billy credits the success of the Piggly Wiggly in Oriental not only to its community customer base, but to his loyal staff.

“I couldn’t do it without Eddie and without the rest of the great staff that we have in there,” he says. “I get all the glory and the credit, which I don’t deserve. It’s them that make me look a whole lot better than I am.”

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Story & photos by Emily Greenberg

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Related Links

• Walmart Closes Express Store in Oriental; a timeline
• Oriental WalMart Closing: Town-n-Country manager Renee Smith Interview
• Graffiti on the boarded up Town-n-Country store.
• Walmart: It Came, It Conquered, Now It’s Packing Up and Leaving (Bloomberg)

Posted Saturday May 30, 2026 by Allison DeWeese