Buehler's Market is located at 429 Market St.The site of one of downtown Chattanooga's oldest businesses has been sold for $1.6 million, but Buehler's Market plans to continue to operate at the location, the store's owner says.
Buehler's owner Charles Morton said that despite his sale of the property, the grocery store that has continuously operated at 429 Market St. since 1965 won't change.
"It's business as usual," he said about the store that caters to many low-income patrons in the downtown area and dates back 105 years in the city.
Morton, 70, who has owned the business since 1988, wouldn't reveal the buyer of the property, which is only identified in a real estate transaction as 429 Market Gp.
"It has been my life for 52 years," he said about the store that runs out of a one-story, 6,369-square-foot brick building next to the popular Jack's Alley complex.
Kim White, who heads the downtown nonprofit redevelopment group River City Co., said that small, central city markets such as Buehler's are rare anywhere these days.
"He provides a great service," White said about Morton's business. "People take buses to come to his market."
Still, White said, River City Co. is pursuing a full-service grocery store for downtown south of the Tennessee River.
"As downtown's population is changing, there's an opportunity for a lot of different kinds of service," she said. "A grocery store with a grab and go component would do very well."
Morton said his clientele consists of many older customers who still cook at home, while a lot of the younger people moving into new downtown apartments don't.
"We have a loyal clientele that keeps us in business," he said. "People who move [downtown] don't shop here. They don't do a lot of cooking. They eat out a lot."
Morton, who started at the business as "a sack boy," said his patrons feel comfortable shopping in the grocery store.
"They've got to have a store to shop at," he said, adding that "I don't go to Wal-Mart. I'm not a big fan."
The owner said Buehler's is a simple business, but it takes hard work.
A warehouse operator out of Alabama that supplies many independent grocers provides much of Buehler's inventory, Morton said.
"That keeps us competitive," he said, noting the store provides "good service" and employs more than 20 people.
Morton said that when he feels he's finished running the business, he may turn it over to a longtime employee of the store.
"She knows about everything I do," he said.
Buehler's was part of an 18-store chain going back to early last century, according to a Chattanooga documentary done three years ago by Monika Groppe. Headquartered in Illinois, the chain operated mostly in the South and Midwest.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.