New businesses coming to fill vacant spots in Marble City Market

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - The Marble City Market has plans to bring new businesses to the food hall as some spots are currently vacant. When the food hall opened in 2021, the facility had 11 businesses inside which includes the food hall bar. As of this year, there are 9 businesses inside.

The general manager of the Marble City Market, Paul Moody, said, “We offer a space that you don’t have to build out. You don’t have to go to get investors and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on equipment and building everything. It’s simply a deposit. We provide everything else for you.”

The three original businesses still there since opening include Smash City Knoxville, Seoul Brothers and Frank and George’s Bar. Moody said being the first food hall in Knoxville comes with daily challenges.

“A few hiccups in the road just like every business. However, we are pushing forward. We are selecting vendors that have great qualifications,” Moody said.

Moody does plan to bring in a couple new businesses to the food hall, including an ice cream shop. Reagan’s Lobster Roll plans to expand to a bigger space in the food hall to offer more seafood options. There is a current vendor who plans to move into a second space in the food hall.

“We’ve had our best run of weeks in about a year and still with not being completely full. What were doing is having events every week. We’re just being good stewards of the food hall making sure we’re working with them,” Moody said.

Marble City Market has worked to get more people out to the food hall by offering fun events. This includes Pups on the Patio, happy hour deals, a pop-up shop with artists and music events.

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