Knoxville, Tenn. — Old Sevier Market is open for business at 906 Sevier Ave., Suite 130, giving South Knoxville a locally owned neighborhood grocery after years of planning on the Sevier Avenue corridor.
The store opened Saturday, Oct. 10. It stocks everyday groceries, fresh produce, regional products and specialty items, and it is open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Owner Chris Morton, whose other ventures include Alliance Brewing and South Coast Pizza, spent years lining up the location and investors. General manager Claire Taylor said the goal is to help neighbors get what they need across a mix of budgets and shopping habits.
The space is about 6,000 square feet of selling floor with additional storage. Taylor said the team is blending regional produce with inventory from distributors of different sizes so the shelves cover staples and niche gaps. During the first month, the market plans to donate food equal in value to 15% of purchases to community partners, beginning with South Knoxville Elementary School across the street.
Coverage of the opening said longtime residents, students and young families are the core audience Morton and Taylor want to serve. Taylor also pointed to sustainability steps such as recycling cardboard and composting food waste, and she asked shoppers for feedback as the opening inventory gets adjusted over the first several months.
South Knoxville, often branded SoKno, sits south of the Tennessee River along the revitalized Sevier Avenue pocket, where walkable retail has grown alongside apartments and the Urban Wilderness trail network. Knox County anchors the wider metro, and University of Tennessee Knoxville students are among the nearby households that can reach Sevier Avenue without a long drive.
City leadership under Mayor Indya Kincannon oversees the municipal side of neighborhood commercial corridors like Sevier Avenue. For South Knoxville shoppers who have relied on larger chain stores farther away, the new market adds an early-morning option on the same street as nightlife and restaurant traffic, with parking freed up as evening businesses start later.
Morton’s longstanding pitch was that South Knoxville already has a micro-economy of independent businesses. Old Sevier Market now puts that claim to a daily test at the checkout counter, with hours, donation pledges and product mix all set to be refined as neighbors walk through the door.
