PARKERSBURG — A company that owns 16 grocery stores in West Virginia and Virginia is the new owner of the Wood County Piggly Wiggly supermarkets.

Jim Oppe, who has owned local grocery stores for 27 years, and his wife Becky sold their four local Piggly Wigglies, and one in The Plains, Ohio, to Grant’s Hometown Supermarkets, which took over on Dec. 1.

Oppe said the transition has been discussed for a while because, as the owner of the businesses, “you can’t just walk away” when you’re ready to retire.

Of three different companies that were interested, southern West Virginia-based Grant’s “made the most sense,” he said.

Customers will see few changes, Ron Martin of Hometown Grocery said. Some remodeling is planned and additional products available to Hometown will be offered in the local Piggly Wigglys, and vice versa, he said.

“Definitely we got things we want to do,” he said.

The company, with the Oppe groceries, will have 20 stores, Martin said. The difference between these and the other stores are Oppe’s are open and fully operational at startup, he said.

Each of the stores has a great location, he said

“It was an opportunity for us when Jim said he wanted to sell,” Martin said.

Oppe confirmed the new owners plan no immediate major changes. They buy from the same supplier and intend to keep the Piggly Wiggly name, as well as the approximately 220 employees at the five stores.

Oppe said making sure the employees were taken care of was an important factor.

“Some of these people have been with me going on 27 years,” he said.

Oppe purchased the Vienna Foodland in 1995.

“We started with one, we’ve had as many as 10 (stores), and we’re at five right now,” he said.

The Cash Saver the Oppes owned in Spencer was sold to local buyers in March, Oppe said.

Oppe is staying on a while longer to help with the transition and holiday activities the stores support each year. After that, he said, he’s retiring, “at least for now,” and spending time with his children and grandkids.

“For six months, I’m not going to do anything,” he said. “I’ve worked for the last 27 years, seven days a week.”

Oppe was recognized this week as the Chamber of Commerce of the Mid-Ohio Valley’s Business Person of the Year, with chamber leaders citing his work during the pandemic and his continued involvement in community feeding programs and other organizations in the community.

Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.