Porter Road Grocery: East Nashville’s Neighborhood Store for Goodwill

Photos: Elle Danielle

Porter Road Grocery is a Black-owned neighborhood grocery store stocking high-quality local foods and making them accessible and affordable. Jim Douglas started his own grocery store chain to serve his community food that they can feel good about eating. Porter Grocery is showcasing fresh, ethical options and is becoming a staple to thousands of Tennessee residents.

A Grocery Store For Goodwill

With Jim’s experience in agriculture running Sticky Tomato, he became well aware of the struggle that many small businesses face in selling local quality food outside of weekly farmer’s markets. He wanted to create a space to help these local businesses. “I wanted to put something together to be able to offer direct retail space for people I knew that were vending or making products in commissary kitchens, but didn’t have, like, restaurants or stores.” And while he was at it, he wanted to make these fresh, quality foods accessible in areas where that may not have been possible before. “If we can get these small little stores active in different little neighborhoods around the city…kind of focused in the areas where smaller buildings, lower income regions, then maybe we can start to help…I can’t help everybody, but if I can help somebody then, you know, I’m doing my part“.

What to Shop

Porter Road carries a variety of local and specialty products handcrafted by small businesses. There are dry goods, meat, and produce that will equip you with your staples for meals and some fun new brands to try! Pick up bio go products to reduce single use plastics and get your shelf staples like nut butter by Bae’s Butter and beans by Mr Bean Man. If spice is your thing, you definitely want to try the hot sauce by Hot Sauce Nashville in four perfectly curated flavors. And if you need your daily dose of caffeine, pick up Switters Iced Coffee or Franklins Fruit Tea for a sweet afternoon treat. And, if you are in the mood for some delicious vegan soul food, shop the Radical Rabbit.

See You There

With more locations on the horizon, we are excited to see what the future holds for Jim and Porter Road Grocery. Make sure you stop by to find ethically sourced, local, affordable food that you can feel good about eating.