Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Lost Memphis Clarence Saunders' Amazing KEEDOOZLE Stores
Posted by Vance Lauderdale on Wed, Jul 7, 2010 at 11:13 PM
- Clarence Saunders' Keedoozle
In the late 1930s, he came up with the world's first fully-automated grocery stores. No carts or baskets, no lugging heavy groceries around the store. You just carried a "key" and picked out your items, which were then whisked by conveyor belts, bagged and tabulated, to the front of the store.
He called the new stores "KEEDOOZLE" and you can learn the whole amazing story by watching the July episode of WKNO's "Southern Routes." The show airs Thursday, July 9, at 8 pm, and repeats Saturday, July 10 at 2:30 pm, and again on Sunday, July 12, at 12 noon. For all you folks with more channels than I have, it also airs on WKNO-2 on Saturday, July 10, at 9 pm.
It's a truly fascinating Memphis business story. That episode also includes a nice feature on my pal Tad Pierson, owner and operator of the American Dream Safari, and a piece on a local piano prodigy (the kid's only 6 years old). Don't miss it, or you will hurt my feelings.
PHOTO COURTESY MEMPHIS ROOM, BENJAMIN HOOKS CENTRAL LIBRARY.
Comments (11)
Showing 1-11 of 11
like
dislike
Wonder if Sanders later had a pet section in the store.
Then when you purchased a cat and put your key in the selection,
you got a whole kitten KEEDOOZLE
By any chance do you know if this will be aired via the internet at any time? We operate 4 Piggly Wiggly stores in NC and I would like to see this segment very much. I have done a fair amount of research on Mr. Saunders and the origins of Piggly Wiggly but am always looking for more! Thanks for your post!
Michael A. Lindsay
Michael, the episodes are later posted on YouTube. I don't think they've done that yet, but they're easy to find by searching for "Ask Vance" or "Southern Routes." Or in this case, "Keedoozle." Give it a day or so.
I don't know how on earth I got the dates wrong for my own show. Good thing I'm not on Broadway! That's still to come, I understand.
Vance, I tried to verify the dates on the Southern Routes website and they were wrong there too. That's probably how you got tripped up. P.S. Love your blog!
I thought I had just cut-and-pasted them from the "Southern Routes" website, so didn't understand how I had much such a mistake. But instead of looking into it, and demanding the resignation of everyone involved, in my usual imperious way, I just drank myself to sleep. Like I do every night. Well, and most afternoons, too.
I wish we could get WKNO here in the sprawling metropolis of Clayton, North Carolina. And yes, North Carolina still has the famous Piggly Wiggly stores. And I remember my days at "Campus School" over at the "Big M" when we often took tours of the campus-operated TV Station and Radio Station. And as far as the grocery stores of old go, I miss the smell. I worked in a grocery store (Baker's Brothers, Big Star) all during high school and it taught me many lessons, but the smell is something else. We have a small locally owned non-chain grocery here and it has that smell ... but i digress.
"kitten Keedozle"? That just ain't right. However maybe it is a good idea for the revamped animal shelter? Automate the whole thing and have less employees to cause lawsuits and investigations.
Congrats to LTC. I see their pun made it to the Flyers' "Fly on the Wall" section!
Actually, it made it to the Flyer's "What They Said" section. See page 10 of the July 15-21 issue, with Kriner Cash on the cover.
