Mary Goss Hardin is a pioneer in the grocery business and was the first woman in the United States to open a food store franchise with the Piggly Wiggly Company.
The Pell City native attended Woodlawn High School in Birmingham and Howard University, now known as Samford University. After opening her first grocery, she ultimately owned 15 Piggly Wiggly/Warehouse Market stores across North Alabama. She has served as president of the Piggly Wiggly Operator’s Association, the first woman to do so, and served on the Piggly Wiggly Distributing Company’s board for more than 30 years. In 1980, she became the first woman to receive the Grocers’ Spotlight Grocer of the Year Award. She has been active in a number of civic organizations, including the Gadsden chapter of the American Red Cross and the board of directors of the March of Dimes and the Salvation Army. She has been a staunch supporter of religious institutions and has established permanent endowments for scholarships for theological students at Emory University. She has aided the New Orleans Baptist Seminary, where the Hardin Student Center is named in her honor.
