Piggly Wiggly® Midwest Partners with Focal Systems to Leverage Artificial Intelligence and Automation to Transform the Shopper Experience
SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Focal Systems, the industry leader in retail automation, today announced a partnership with Piggly Wiggly Midwest stores. Piggly Wiggly Midwest will be piloting the Focal Operating System (FocalOS) in its Wisconsin and Illinois stores. FocalOS digitizes the entire store in order to automate and optimize ordering, inventory management, merchandising and in-store labor with the objective to deliver a better experience to customers.
Building on its more than 100-year history in the grocery business, Piggly Wiggly continues to grow its presence with stores throughout the Midwest, South and Northeast. C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc. operates Piggly Wiggly Midwest corporate stores and services independent franchisees under a chain-style model. This unique grocery store offers the selection and assortment of a national chain, with the service and local customization of a community-based retailer. Each store contains specialized local assortments to meet local shoppers’ needs.
“We’re thrilled to work with such a beloved and historic grocer that has been a staple in American lives for more than a century,” said Francois Chaubard, CEO and founder of Focal Systems. “I’m seeing the first signs of massive adoption of AI and computer vision in the grocery and retail industry and it’s exciting to see one of the best grocery chains helping to lead the charge. In partnering with Focal Systems, Piggly Wiggly Midwest is demonstrating how it continues to be a pioneer in the industry. We look forward to expanding our partnership in years to come.”
“Piggly Wiggly has been changing the industry since it launched its first store. Our partnership with Focal Systems will enable us to provide an even better shopper experience by leveraging the most innovative retail automation technology available,” said Mark McGowan, Senior Vice President, Retail, C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc.
Focal Systems made recent headlines for its $25 million Series B, led by Point72, and for its rollout at the Cooportunity Market, the only organic food cooperative in Los Angeles. To date, Focal has raised more than $40M in venture capital funding and has scaled their solutions to retailers spanning three continents. Major retailers using Focal Systems have shown a 50x in ROI with the implementation of the technology, making this the most profitable investment in all of retail technology.
About Focal Systems:
Founded in 2015 in San Francisco out of Stanford’s Computer Vision Lab, Focal Systems is the industry leader in retail automation. Our mission is to automate and optimize brick and mortar retail with state-of-the-art deep learning and AI. We have pioneered the world’s first “Self-Driving Store”- an OS that revolutionizes how stores are run. Focal has raised more than $40M to date and scaled solutions on three continents in hundreds of stores, with over 100,000 cameras deployed. Learn more at: https://focal.systems.
About Piggly Wiggly:
Building on its more than 100-year history in the grocery business, Piggly Wiggly® continues to grow its presence with stores throughout the Midwest, South and Northeast. C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc. operates corporate stores and services independent franchisees under a chain-style model. This unique grocery store offers the selection and assortment of a national chain, with the service and local customization of a community-based retailer. Each store contains specialized local assortments to meet local shoppers’ needs.
Piggly Wiggly Midwest: https://www.shopthepig.com/
Piggly Wiggly Carolinas: https://www.thepig.net/
About C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc.
C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc. is an industry leader in supply chain solutions and wholesale grocery supply in the United States. Founded in 1918 as a supplier to independent grocery stores, C&S now services customers of all sizes, supplying more than 7,500 independent supermarkets, chain stores, military bases and institutions with over 100,000 different products. We are an engaged corporate citizen, supporting causes that positively impact our communities. To learn more, please visit www.cswg.com.
Contacts
Lizzy Harris for Focal Systems
lizzy@pipitcommunications.com
1-303-503-1136
C&S Media Contact:
Lauren La Bruno
Vice President of Communications, Change Management and Community Relations
C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc.
llabruno@cswg.com
C&S Investor Relations:
Julie Drake
Vice President, Assistant Treasurer
C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc.
IR@cswg.com
Piggly Wiggly Marketing Contact:
Molly Rippinger
Director, Marketing
Piggly Wiggly Midwest
mrippinger@shopthepig.com