Easy-Way Store was a

family-owned A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, related by blood or marriage or adoption, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business and the willingn ...

grocery chain As of September 2020, this is a list of supermarket chains, past and present, which operate or have branches in more than one country, whether under the parent corporation's name or another name. For supermarkets that are only in one country, see ...

in the

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

area of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Easy-Way specialized in

produce Produce is a generalized term for many farm-produced crops, including fruits and vegetables (grains, oats, etc. are also sometimes considered ''produce''). More specifically, the term ''produce'' often implies that the products are fresh and g ...

. As of 2009, it operated one full-service grocery store in Memphis and seven produce-only locations in Memphis and its suburbs. It was known locally for having

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

storefronts.

History

Easy-Way Store Mendenhall Rd Memphis TN 05

The first Easy-Way store was opened in

downtown Memphis Downtown Memphis, Tennessee is the central business district of Memphis, Tennessee and is located along the Mississippi River between Interstate 40 to the north, Interstate 55 to the south and I-240 to the east, where it abuts Midtown Memphis. It ...

in 1932 by Pate Carter.Easy-Way Produce Stores website
accessed June 21, 2009 In December 2003, the downtown store was damaged in a fire that destroyed an adjacent grocery store, but it had no structural damage, and reopened less than one month after the fire. Produce-only stores were first added in the early 1970s. In 2001 the company built a

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...

and distribution center, which is the company headquarters and the base of a

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

operation that supplies fruits and vegetables to many local

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

s, as well as to competing grocers when their inventories run low. The retail stores did not add Sunday operating hours until 2008. Ownership and management of the business have remained in the Carter family. Its current owners, brothers Barry Carter, Jr. and David Carter, are grandsons of the founder. In 2005, David Carter attributed the company's long survival in the face of competition from larger stores to the convenience of its neighborhood store locations, its ability to deliver fresher produce than larger stores, its responsiveness to customer suggestions, and the absence of a corporate

bureaucracy The term bureaucracy () refers to a body of non-elected governing officials as well as to an administrative policy-making group. Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments staffed with non-elected offi ...

. The chain has been a winner in the "Most Appealing Produce" category in ''Memphis Commercial Appeal'' reader polls.
Memphis Commercial Appeal
', August 12, 2007 David Carter died on January 20, 2014, in the Easy Way Warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee due to a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The last store closed on April 27, 2018.

References

External links

Easy-Way Produce Stores Online
{{Supermarkets of the United States Companies based in Memphis, Tennessee Supermarkets of the United States Retail companies established in 1932 Retail companies disestablished in 2018