He also replaced all the doors and wood flooring, as well as installing LED lighting. Welborn had to gut it to put in new cases and energy-efficient refrigeration. Structurally, the building was in good shape, though it did need some major renovations. But we got it to work and opened on the last day of 2020.”
“It was too good of an opportunity to pass it up because we were concerned about whether or not our warehouse could handle trying to take on that volume in the middle of everything in that period. “We were trying to figure everything out, how we could make it work,” he recalled. But Welborn said the store was available and intriguing. That couldn’t have been more apparent than during a global pandemic. “Yep, right in the middle of COVID-19,” Welborn said with a chuckle.Īs anybody opening a new business would know, there really is no ideal time to do it. Baker, and he and my dad saw things the same and they partnered up. “It was definitely something that I wanted to do, and I think it spurred him into looking at what the options were as we weren’t in a position to buy a store,” he said. Welborn said he and his father were discussing their own store and it got the latter’s “retail side flowing again.” He had previously worked in stores, visited them with his father and earn a degree in small company management and entrepreneurship from the University of Alabama.ī&W’s first store opened when he was starting college. Welborn was ready to take the reins after having grown up in the industry. By that time, the business had grown to include four stores. Baker continues to share ownership with Welborn, whose father passed away in 2010. The two went into business together to open B&W Foods, with their first Piggly Wiggly opening in 1998 in Northport, Alabama. “We all make our name and live off our reputations, but there’s just some brands and things that stand a little taller than we ever can.” “One thing my dad used to preach – which I do today – is the value of the Piggly Wiggly brand,” Welborn said. In fact, Welborn said his father convinced Baker to switch from his previous distributor to PWADC. During that time, he met Ronnie Baker, a longtime friend and customer of Piggly Wiggly. His late father worked his way up from a retail counselor to director of store development. His father, Jimmy, the founder of B&W, had previously worked for the distributor beginning in 1980. Welborn, co-owner of B&W Foods in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, has partnered with PWADC for 23 years. has been a part of Jay Welborn’s entire life.
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