Southern Market

What Southern Market does

Southern Market Shops, operating as The Southern Market, is a privately-held multi-vendor retail marketplace founded in 1996 and headquartered at 5400 Homberg Drive, Knoxville, Tennessee. The business curates and sells upscale gifts, home décor, fashion, art, jewelry, children's items, self-care products, and University of Tennessee merchandise on behalf of over 100 local small business merchants and makers. It operates a single physical storefront with extended holiday hours and supplements it with a Shopify-powered e-commerce site (southernmarketonline.com) that ships within the US and internationally. The company also runs a "Sell with Us" leasing/booth program that onboards additional small businesses into the marketplace, functioning as a curated two-sided retail platform rather than a conventional single-vendor retailer.

Revenue is generated primarily through one-time retail merchandise sales at individually priced SKUs (example items range from $11.11 for a body balm to $30 for a plush goose), with a secondary stream from vendor leasing/marketplace commissions. The company employs approximately 12 people and serves two main customer segments: local Knoxville/East Tennessee consumers (including UT fans and alumni) and visitors/gift shoppers seeking locally-sourced, distinctive items. Marketing is community-centric, leveraging Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, email, hosted events such as the Tailgate Party Outdoor Market and Holiday Open House, and earned media in outlets including Redfin, WBIR, and USA Today.

The business carries no disclosed funding, no institutional investors, no M&A activity, no patents or trademarks on file, and no proprietary technology beyond the Shopify storefront. Its 29-year operating history, unbroken streak of "Best Gift Shop" community awards from 2022 through 2025, prior CityView "Best of the Best" honors in 2020-2021, and a USA Today #1 Best Place to Shop ranking constitute its primary intangible assets. A community partnership with Mobile Meals (Purse Drive dropoff) underscores its local nonprofit engagement.

Name

Southern Market

Legal name

Southern Market Shops

Website

https://southernmarketshops.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Southern Market Shops is a privately-held, 29-year-old curated multi-vendor retail marketplace in Knoxville, Tennessee, hosting 100+ local merchants and makers selling upscale gifts, home décor, fashion, art, and University of Tennessee merchandise via a single storefront and Shopify e-commerce site.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Retail Marketplace

NAICS

Other Miscellaneous Retailers (4599)

SIC

Retail-Miscellaneous Shopping Goods Stores (5940)

akta.pro primary industry

Local Artisan, Handmade & Craft Gifts Retail (CRALAJAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Pop Culture, Licensed & Fandom Gifts Retail (CRALAJAK)

Keywords

• Specialty retail marketplace
• Gift shop merchandise
• Artisan home decor
• Merchant booth leasing
• Local small business

Headquarters

HQ city

Myrtle Beach, SC

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail merchandise sales: Revenue generated from direct retail sales of merchandise from over 100 small business merchants and makers including gifts, home decor, fashion, art, jewelry, children's items, and self-care products. The company operates a physical storefront and online store.
2. Merchant/vendor leasing: The company offers 'Sell with Us' leasing opportunities to small businesses, suggesting a vendor/merchant booth rental or commission arrangement where small businesses pay to sell their products through the marketplace.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Southern Market Shops operates a curated multi-vendor retail marketplace hosting over 100 small business merchants and makers, offering gifts, home decor, fashion, art, jewelry, children's items, self-care products, and University of Tennessee merchandise. The business combines a physical retail storefront at 5400 Homberg Drive in Knoxville, TN with a Shopify-powered online store, and provides booth leasing opportunities ('Sell with Us') to local artisans and makers.

Product overview

Southern Market is a multi-vendor retail marketplace operating as Knoxville's premier design marketplace of small businesses, featuring over 100 small business merchants and makers. The platform offers a unified shopping experience across multiple curated collections including University of Tennessee merchandise, Gifts, Fashion, Self-care, Home Decor, Children's items, Summer/Seasonal (4th of July), Jewelry, and Art. Individual products like the Stuffed Grey Goose, Boat-Themed Dog Squeaker, and Joyful Jasmine Body Balm are featured as sub-products from specific vendors. The marketplace operates both as a physical retail location at 5400 Homberg Drive, Knoxville, TN, and as an online e-commerce platform powered by Shopify.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• University of Tennessee Collection Curated collection of University of Tennessee merchandise including apparel, accessories, and fan gear from local merchants and makers, targeted at UT fans, alumni, and gift shoppers.
• Gifts Collection Selection of unique gift items available for purchase from local small business merchants and makers, suitable for holidays, birthdays, and special occasions.
• Fashion Collection Upscale fashion items including clothing and accessories sourced from local merchants and makers.
• Home Decor Collection Home decoration and interior design items curated from local small businesses.
• Jewelry Collection Jewelry and accessory items curated from local small business merchants.
• Art Collection Art pieces and artistic creations from local artists and makers.
• Self-care Collection Health and self-care products including body balms and skincare items from local vendors.
• Children's Collection Children's products and items from local merchants and makers.
• Summer Collection Seasonal summer merchandise including 4th of July themed items from local vendors.
• Sell with Us (Merchant Leasing Program) Booth leasing and vendor partnership program that allows local small businesses, artisans, and makers to rent retail space within the Southern Market marketplace to sell their products to shoppers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Voted Knoxville's Best Gift Shop for 4 consecutive years (2022, 2023, 2024, 2025)
• +1 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Mobile MealsminorOthersSouthern Market serves as a dropoff location for Mobile Meals' Purse Drive, allowing community members to donate purses in good condition. Proceeds from the purse drive help raise money that feeds seniors who cannot feed themselves. This partnership demonstrates community involvement and social responsibility.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Billy Reid: Southern-rooted American lifestyle brand operating flagship stores and offering apparel and home goods with a refined Southern identity. Comparable to Southern Market because it shares the upscale Southern retail positioning and curated regional aesthetic.

Broad incumbents

• Etsy: Global online marketplace for handmade, vintage, and craft goods. Comparable to Southern Market because both aggregate independent makers and artisans into a curated shopping experience, though Etsy operates at vastly greater scale and online-only.
• Free People: Lifestyle and fashion retailer offering apparel, accessories, beauty, and home goods with a boutique, artisan-leaning assortment. Comparable to Southern Market's fashion, jewelry, and lifestyle gift categories at a national scale.
• West Elm: National home furnishings and decor retailer with a curated, design-forward assortment including locally-made and artisan collections. Overlaps with Southern Market's home decor collection and competes for the same design-conscious gift and decor buyer.
• Faire: Wholesale marketplace connecting independent makers and brands with retailers. Comparable to Southern Market because it operates in the same maker-to-buyer ecosystem and could supply or compete with the company's vendor ecosystem.
• Anthropologie: Multi-category lifestyle retailer offering apparel, home decor, beauty, and gifts with a curated, artisan-inspired aesthetic. Overlaps with Southern Market's fashion, home decor, and gift categories but operates nationally at scale.

Direct peers

• Uncommon Goods: Online retailer specializing in unique, often handmade gifts and home goods. Comparable to Southern Market because it competes in the same upscale, non-mass-market gift category and serves similar gift-purchaser use cases.
• Scout's General Store: Independent curated shop offering unique gifts, home goods, and lifestyle items from makers and small brands. Comparable to Southern Market in single-location upscale gift retail with strong community and maker positioning.
• Magnolia Market: Curated retail destination in Waco, Texas combining home decor, gifts, and food from multiple vendors in a destination-store format. Directly comparable to Southern Market's multi-vendor curated marketplace concept and tourism-driven foot traffic.
• The Sill: Specialty retailer offering curated plants and home goods with a focus on small-batch makers and design-forward presentation. Comparable to Southern Market as a curated, design-led specialty retailer serving lifestyle/gift purchase occasions.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/TheSouthernMarket
• Instagraminstagram.com/southernmarketshops
• TikToktiktok.com/@southernmarketshops
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/southern-market

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Southern Market