WHITMIRE, SC – (WIS) Starting this week, the town of Whitmire in Newberry County has a new resource to address food insecurity.
Uncle Willie’s Grocery Store held a grand opening for a mobile food market, Uncle Willie’s Mobile Market, that plans to operate in the town every Wednesday for the next year.
This comes after the town’s only full-service grocery store, a Piggly Wiggly, closed in February.
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“A lot of the conveniences that we enjoy in metropolitan areas, in a lot of our rural areas of the state, they don’t have that,” Christa Williams, the owner of Uncle Willie’s Grocery Store, said. “I think it’s only fair to share. Instead of wasting merchandise and throwing things away, why not share with other communities that don’t have access to any of it.”
The town’s Piggly Wiggly was replaced by a Dollar Tree/Family Dollar combo store, which opened a few months ago.
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Whitmire is home to roughly 1,400 people. Its largely elderly population now must travel about 20 miles to the nearest grocery store.
Williams, who opened Uncle Willie’s Grocery Store on Main Street in Columbia in April of this year, said the hours of the mobile market in Whitmire will be set based on the needs of the community.
The stock of items will also be based on community need. At its grand opening, items for purchase included breads, cheeses, jams and fresh produce.
Several longtime Whitmire residents tell WIS they are grateful to Uncle Willie’s.
“I want to say thank you to Willie for coming,” Jewell Nelson said. “We appreciate him, and hope they can stay with us a long time.”
Nelson has been saddled with the prospect of a 45-minute round trip just to get the essentials.
“It is very stressful because when we need something we want it right here in Whitmire,” she said. “We don’t want to have to drive all the way, and we’ll do without just because we have to drive so far to get the things we need.”
In opening up the market, Williams said it was important not to duplicate the efforts of the other small grocers here: Joe’s Market and Dream’n Acres.
“We wanted to work together and complement the resources that are here, and not overstep the boundaries so we’re wanting to work with the community,” she said.
Whitmire mayor Billy Hollingsworth praised the work of both local grocers, and said they have “really stepped up” to fill food gaps in the last year.
Since the Piggly Wiggly closed, Hollingsworth said he has contacted 13 different grocery store chains, trying to encourage them to open up shop in Whitmire, but to this point those attempts have been unsuccessful.
“We’re never going to quit trying,” he said. “We’ll continue to try to get a full-fledged grocery store in Whitmire.”
Hollingsworth said he understands their hesitation and is not frustrated.
“I know it takes a lot of volume to make one pay for itself,” he said.
Despite a lack of fresh produce, Hollingsworth promised, “There’s not a citizen in Whitmire that will go hungry, not a citizen.”
Williams is also considering opening up a standalone grocery store in Whitmire at some point in the future.
Uncle Willie’s Grocery Store plans to create a similar food market in Clarendon County in the coming months.
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