When Susan Worthington remembers the earliest years of Southern Market Shops, she needs to dab her eyes. So many good memories, such hard work, and all of it was done alongside her parents.
“We started it together,” she says, and then she pauses. Frances Sexton, Susan’s mother, passed away in 2017. “I’m just super sentimental.”
It’s a story she loves to tell, evident by her smile despite the emerging tears. Her parents bought the parking lot and started construction on the 8500-square-foot space in 1993. By November 1996, Southern Market Shops — a small business concept they’d researched and designed — was open for merchants and customers.
“We traveled 20,000 miles to get our first tenants, from Charleston to Birmingham to Atlanta to Louisville, looking for people who were interested in coming to Knoxville,” says Susan. “We were a mini-Chamber of Commerce.”
Originally, Southern Market showcased a mishmash of antique and modern finds, but overtime, contemporary retail won over vintage. Though Susan says they track trends and keep a keen eye for what sells and what doesn’t, ultimately “customers vote with their dollars” and continue to influence what merchants carry in their individual spaces.
At its core, Southern Market Shops provides a brick-and-mortar space for artists, creators, and shop owners with varying levels and types of inventory, from the Etsy jeweller who rents a strip of wall for $25 per month to the clothing merchant who provides an entire corner space with dresses, tops, and accessories on display. For shoppers, there are seemingly endless nooks and crannies of gems to discover, from home decor and holiday items to handcrafted jewelry and small-batch food items (for humans and puppers alike!). For merchants, Susan says there is something for every budget.
“In middle school, I used to make hair bows and sell them at Henderson Drug Store. I’d get off the bus everyday to see what I’d sold,” she says. “I know from being on their side that merchants and artists want a place to start, so this gives them an opportunity to get going.”
And it’s not just a space. Partnering with Susan means merchants get the benefit of her retail expertise, her advice and support, help from the team, and what she calls a “white glove” experience. This type of cooperation has an incubation effect with the end goal being success for everyone.
“Some have a magic bullet of their own, but there are some merchants who come in with no experience. I wish everyone could come in and be magically successful, but there’s a learning curve. A lot of small businesses don’t make it, and there’s a huge percentage of retail who fail, but this provides them with a protective environment, lower risk, and a team effort rather than a go-it-alone approach,” says Susan. “They can learn lessons here. We’re a business-minded group.”
The past 25 years have been good to Susan and her family. It doesn’t seem that long ago that her daughter Callie, now 23, was sitting in her leopard stroller being entertained by customers while Susan pulled products from the shelf. It’s just one of the many reasons why Susan is sentimental about Southern Market Shops. You can’t create a business with your parents, raise your children in the building, watch dozens of people succeed, and not get sentimental.
“We didn’t just take something and renovate it. We were all-in from the get-go,” says Susan. “It’s been fun to watch the community develop around us. It’s always been an art community district with a small entrepreneurial vision.”
Though there aren’t plans to expand the building, Susan says work is underway expanding their online presence to a full, multi-merchant marketplace. She and her team are passionate about the collective success of their merchants, so expanding online services is the best next step.
“A rising tide floats all boats, so people work together here. Everyone wants everyone to do well,” says Susan. “That’s our ultimate goal.”