Grocery Stores in the Clarendon County Area of South Carolina
If you’re intending to move to or are traveling through the Clarendon County area in South Carolina, whether it’s passing through to another state or staying with relatives or friends, there is one very important thing you should know. At least it’s important in my opinion. Within the towns of Summerton and Manning, technically there are only 4 honest-to-goodness grocery stores and only one of those is in the Summerton area.
Manning used to have four on its own a couple of years ago giving its residents a little more options in where and how they preferred to shop. About two years ago they closed down the supermarket called Bi-Lo in Manning, forcing its loyal customers to either choose between IGA, Piggly Wiggly, and Wal-Mart in Manning, or if they lived in Summerton they had the choice of going to the Piggly Wiggly there. Otherwise, there is Food Lion in Santee along with another Piggly Wiggly, but if they truly wanted to keep frequenting Bi-Lo the nearest one is in Sumter, SC which is about 17 miles away (rough estimate).
Officially, there is only IGA, Piggly Wiggly, and Wal-Mart in the Manning area and another Piggly Wiggly in the Summerton area. Unofficially, I think Dollar General should be included in that list even though they don’t have a produce section. I believe that’s the only thing stopping them from being included in the mix with being called an officially grocery store. DG sells milk, cheese, margarine, pre-sliced and packaged deli meats, and a few select brands of ice cream as well. They also accept EBT/Food Stamps (it’s on the sign in their windows) and they sell at the regular grocery store prices, sometimes even less. A lot of people probably make the mistake of thinking that DG sells at the rate of convenience store prices (those exorbitant amounts that prey on people in desperate situations), but that couldn’t be further from the truth. If I didn’t need any fresh produce at the time, I’ve been known to grab a cart and fill it up, getting everything I need right there.
I hope this helps anyone traveling to this area in finding what they need in terms of food. But if grocery shopping isn’t on your list of things to do, there’s at least enough fast food restaurants to help deal with any hunger pangs you might have.
