Grubb’s Grocery and Chris Felder’s Passion for Healthy Living
“The question isn’t will it work, the question is will you do it. It will work, businesses downtown work if you do them right. But the question is do you want to? I think downtown is the vibrant place to be,” said Chris Felder, owner of Grubb’s Grocery. “I live here, I work here, I eat and drink here, I think it’s the people who make it cool here. If anyone in Jackson is looking for a business opportunity, I can’t imagine looking anywhere but Downtown first.”
This is Chris Felder’s passion, to raise people’s standard of living through the food and nutrition they put in their body, and that is the most rewarding part of owning Grubb’s Grocery, a needed store in the Jackson community. In 2008, following the tornados, the developers of Jackson Walk approached Chris about bringing a grocery store to the area. After his involvement in the startup of the first location of The Turnip Truck in Nashville, he wasn’t really looking to leave the area. However, when he came to visit the newly developed downtown area here in Jackson, Chris found the area similar to that of East Nashville back in 2001 when they first opened The Turnip Truck. This excited Chris so much that he decided to go for it, and relocated to Jackson.
You may wonder, why is Grubb’s Grocery not named The Turnip Truck? Chris knew that The Turnip Truck brand was so associated with the Nashville area, so he wanted to create something that felt like a small, local store, very different from the only other grocery stores of Walmart or Kroger. He loved the name “grub” after visiting several different restaurants with this word in them, but he decided to add a “b” making it “Grubb’s Grocery.” Because Grubb’s is the only store of its kind in Jackson, many people overlook them because of their prices. However, Chris explains that their prices are actually really good and you are paying to put better products into your body. Most of the people who think Grubb’s has high prices have never stepped foot in the store, and Chris wants to provide a product with much higher quality than that of your typical grocery store.
“As someone who has traveled a lot, one thing cities have in common that are successful is their downtown is vibrant. And you think of many major cities and most people live and work downtown,” said Felder. “It’s really really important to keep that downtown area vital and to continue to grow it because the architecture in a downtown city like Jackson doesn't exist anywhere else.”
Chris serves the Downtown Jackson community by bringing people to the area for products they can only get at Grubb’s. He wants to continue to watch the downtown area grow and become vibrant. Over the past year, it has been fulfilling and relieving for Chris to watch the rapid growth of this area, and he is eagerly awaiting how it will continue to expand over the years to come.
“We have lots of customers who come in three or four times a day, and it’s flattering because they all seem thankful that we’re here and I like to think we bring good service to people downtown. But without a doubt the best part of my day is the people that come in,” said Felder.
