ALGOMA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – After being closed for a couple of weeks, Craig’s Piggly Wiggly in Algoma was open Tuesday, one last time.
Everything was auctioned off as the owner heads to retirement.
Since about the turn of the 21st Century, Craig Peterman has been the name behind the brand at the Piggly Wiggly store in Algoma.
“A town of 3,000 people is the only place to live. It’s one of those things you get to know all the customers by name, and different things like this, wherein the bigger cities, you don’t have that opportunity.”
But Peterman tells FOX 11 is was time to take a different role.
“I decided about a year and a half ago, that I was going to look toward retirement. And it got to the point where there really wasn’t any interest in anybody taking over the store after me, so we just decided that it was time to close it.”
From a display of deli slicers to the shopping carts in the lobby, everything was up for auction Tuesday morning. About 60 people either bid in person or online.
“It’s amazing what they auction off. I’ve never been through an auction before, even attended one before. So it’s interesting to see how it works today, I’ll be taking it all in,” said Peterman.
There were about 300 items in all. The gumball machines went for $100, and the 46 grocery carts sold at $2 apiece.
“You’ll have end users, you’ll have grocery store owners as well as resale people that refurbish the items to sell them new, or taking them right down to their store right down the road to be put right back into use,” said Rayce Fleisner, Badger Corporation.
Peterman says he will remember the people he met along the way.
“That’s always a difficult thing after 20 years, with the customers, and the employees that you have around you. Those are the things I’m going to miss the most. But I guess everybody’s got to retire someday, so my day has come.”
Peterman says he doesn’t have any immediate plans for retirement.
He says, in the meantime, he will take some time to relax.
