4 Maryland Harris Teeter stores get closer to potentially becoming Piggly Wiggly

Four Maryland Harris Teeter stores could potentially be turned into Piggly Wiggly supermarkets , a large chain mostly in the South.

They're part of an expected sale of the chain stores to C&S Wholesale Grocers, LLC, a company known primarily for the Piggly Wiggly brand.

Baltimore-area Harris Teeter stores are not part of this sale - but it could mean that Marylanders will see Piggly Wiggly here.

Harris Teeter stores in Montgomery County, Eastern Shore (Easton) and southern Maryland were listed as being targeted in the sale - as well as one in D.C. and a few in northern Virginia.

There are more than 500 Piggly Wiggly stores - whose slogan is "Down Home, Down the Street" - in the South and Midwest.

Compare that to Giant Food of Maryland, which has about 160 stores in our area.

The sale is not a done deal yet; Kroger and Albertsons, who own the stores, are hoping that selling them will help get the merger approved.

The Federal Trade Commission had sued to block the massive merger, and the major Food & Commercial Workers union remains opposed to it .