Turnip Truck to open new store in West Nashville Larry McCormack, lmccormack@tennessean.com
Nashville has no shortage of grocery chains.
Publix, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods are adding even more locations as the city bursts at the seams with new boutique hotels, high-end office space and high-rise housing.
But for 18 years, Turnip Truck has been serving the Nashville area with a commitment to organic produce and supporting local agriculture. And now, the local grocer is ready to grow.
The company plans to open its third Nashville location this fall at 5001 Charlotte Ave., complete with a salad bar, hot food bar, in-house bakery, meat department, organic fresh juice bar, produce, dairy, frozen foods, supplements and dry goods.
‘We’re Nashville’s grocer’
“I really want to become the identity of local grocer for Nashville, as HG Hills was many years ago. We’re Nashville’s grocer,” said Turnip Truck founder John Dyke, a longtime East Nashville resident who grew up on a farm in East Tennessee.
Dyke opened Turnip Truck in East Nashville in 2001, when his main competitor was Wild Oats (formerly Sunshine Grocery), and shoppers generally weren’t as health-conscious as they are now. Still, Turnip Truck carved its niche and became ingrained in the food scene on the east side.
The grocer expanded to the Gulch in 2010, and five years later, Turnip Truck replaced the original East Nashville store with one four times its size just down Woodland Street.
From the start, Dyke’s passion was to support local organic farms and serve as a conduit to get their produce to consumers. He has tended to be an early adapter in sustainability and environmental practices, such as Turnip Truck’s push to eliminate plastic bags five years ago and the rooftop bee hives the East Nashville store added in 2017.
“We need to build more sustainable farming in the local area. It’s better for the economy, it’s better for the environment, the food tastes so much better and it’s better at keeping our dollars in town,” Dyke said.
Turnip Truck was recognized this year by industry publication Progressive Grocer with an “Outstanding Independents Award” for excellence in produce.
“With a name like Turnip Truck, there can be no mistaking that the company’s two — soon to be three — stores are focused on produce,” Progressive Grocer wrote.
A focus on local, organic produce
About 90 to 95% of produce in Turnip Truck is organic, and the juices are all 100% organic, Dyke said. The company sources as much produce as possible from within 200 miles, although the store’s produce buyers are at the mercy of Tennessee’s growing season. One recent spring, Turnip Truck couldn’t get local strawberries because rain had devastated the crop.
“We’ve never had non-organic leafy greens, we’ve never had non-organic apples. I can’t say the same about citrus. The only things I can think of that we have to sometimes go to conventional are Brussels sprouts and asparagus,” Dyke said.
Buying organic groceries is often more expensive than buying conventional, but consumers, especially Millennials, are proving they’re willing to pay. Organic products sales grew almost 9% in 2018 to $21 billion, according to Nielson.
Dyke views buying organic, pesticide- and preservative-free food as a long-term health investment that could mean lower medical bills.
“Do you want to spend your money now on feeling healthy and clean food and what you place in your body, or do you want to spend the money later in 10 to 15 to 20 years? I think people now really want to invest, especially in their children and their own health,” Dyke said.
Squaring off against competitors
Turnip Truck is bracing for a flood of new competition from grocery chains, particularly with a Whole Foods store rising less than a half mile from Dyke’s Gulch location. But Dyke is focused on what Turnip Truck does well, including the store’s ability to heed customers’ requests about what products they want in the store.
In West Nashville, Turnip Truck will be planted right between Sylvan Park and fast-growing neighborhood The Nations in a building the company purchased last year for close to $5.5 million.
The roughly 15,000-square-foot store will be designed by Nashville architect Manuel Zeitlin and will have the same feel as the East Nashville location. The new store will staff about 75 people, bringing the company’s total workforce to about 225 people.
Rob Robinson, president of the Sylvan Park Neighborhood Association, said many neighbors are excited to have another grocery shopping option on the west side.
“It will be great to have both The Produce Place and The Turnip Truck in the neighborhood because that will mean more access to locally grown, wholesome food. It’s also exciting to see continued retail growth along Charlotte Avenue,” Robinson said.
Reach Lizzy Alfs at lalfs@tennessean.com or 615-726-5948 and on Twitter @lizzyalfs.
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