A Knoxville fixture quietly exits Marble City Market; two vendors told to leave 'at once'

Vendor shakeups at Knoxville's first food hall continue, as original vendors depart and new ones step in.

Just three of the original Marble City Market vendors remain, with the popular Knoxville kitchen Penne For Your Thoughts quietly leaving the food hall over the weekend and two others now gone.

Myrtle's Bakehouse and The Donut Theory, whose shared owner recently told Knox News of his plans to pull both from the food hall, have been asked to leave "at once," according to a letter dated Jan. 1 from food hall management to stall owner Dustin Cochran.

Cochran had planned to operate his two stalls until mid-February.

The letter was shared to Myrtle's social media and was paired with a post claiming the food hall is not allowing the bakehouse to cook its remaining product.

"That will go in the garbage," the Myrtle's post read, prompting commenters to ask about purchasing dough to bake at home.

Knox News contacted the food hall about these departures, but ownership declined to comment.

As for Penne, owner Geoffrey Bernstein told Knox News its Dec. 31 departure had more to do with logistics, the brand's recent growth and labor shortages within the restaurant industry.

"More than anything right now, with our west location being open, it just doesn't really make sense anymore to have (Marble City Market) open," he said. "Logistically, it's just difficult. We make all of our sauces from scratch. We have to transfer all those down there. ... We're just kind of stretched thin."

Penne For Your Thoughts opened a location at 9430 S. Northshore Drive last year. The business still has its food truck and catering operation.

“We’ve always loved the concept, and I believe it has a successful future," Bernstein said of the food hall.

Cochran is working to open a gluten-free food truck under The Donut Theory brand and is negotiating a lease in Turkey Creek for a celiac-friendly kitchen. As for Myrtle's, he has plans to open a full bakery with cookies and bread at the forthcoming Kern's Bakery food hall south of downtown.

'I don't think I can own that decline'

Marble City Market opened with 11 vendors in November 2021. Since then, the food hall at 333 W. Depot Ave. in downtown Knoxville has lost vendors due to dwindling foot traffic.

Cochran recently told Knox News The Donut Theory made just $182 on its worst day of sales.

"I don’t feel like I can own that decline," Cochran said. "I don’t think that was me. I don’t think that my brand changed. My marketing slacked off a little bit because I opened the Northshore store; I'll own a little bit of that. But I didn’t go from $40,000 a month to $16,000 a month (at each vendor stall) because of something I did.”

The downtown culinary community seemed hopeful for improvement when management transitioned from national food hall curator Hospitality HQ to Paul and Ashley Moody of locally owned Moody Foods, the company behind original Marble City Market vendor SmashCity Knoxville.

SmashCity, Seoul Brothers and Gekko Poke & Ramen are all that remain of the inaugural lineup.

The Moodys joined Knox News podcast "The Scruffy Stuff" shortly after taking on management responsibilities to share planned improvements, from decreasing credit card rates for vendors to implementing better marketing strategies to making the space feel more warm and welcoming.

While some changes already are in place, including an updated bar program, Cochran previously told Knox News he felt some of the issues facing the food hall are "unsolvable."

"Some of those problems aren’t anybody’s problems other than where it’s physically located," Cochran said. "It looks like an apartment building. You’re not going to demolish it, reshape it. ... And it’s going to cost either a lot of money or take a lot of creativity to make it look inviting."

Several new vendors have signed on at Marble City Market. The food hall recently welcomed Chick-N-Sack and Hot Shot Knox, a spokesperson told Knox News, "with two more in the wings."

That includes Kianga's Kitchen, a local vegan soul food brand that will be featured soon at knoxnews.com.

The Moodys also opened their Reagan's Lobster Roll Shop in the food hall last month.

Is there still hope for Marble City Market?

Marble City Market is located beneath the Regas Square condos, which broke ground in February 2017. The first units sold in May 2019.

Four years after construction started, Knox News reported Marble City Market would take over 15,000 square feet on the ground level.

This large footprint on a growing side of town was viewed as a potential catalyst for further growth, with ownership suggesting the project could extend the boundaries of downtown.

Following the tumultuous first year in business, Marble City Market received report-card treatment from Knox News, which graded the operations and the food hall's potential in year two.

Ryan Wilusz,downtown reporter and urban explorer for Knox News, can be reached at 865-317-5138 or by email at ryan.wilusz@knoxnews.com. Follow Ryan's work on Instagram @KnoxScruff, and sign up for the free, weekly Urban Knoxville newsletter. Unlock premium perks and support strong local journalism at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knoxville food hall Marble City Market loses Penne, Myrtle's Bakehouse