Written by: Alexis Dewey
On Sept. 3, 2024, Crumbleberry Market posted on its Instagram page that it is no longer operating on campus. The post stated that Southern created a new policy that will no longer allow independent businesses to compete with its food and beverage sales.
“As a result, SAU will be putting restrictions on our lease renewal, which will make it impossible for us to continue to operate the business in the way we would like.”
According to a previous article by the Accent, Crumbleberry Market is a plant-based, local and family-owned café-style restaurant started by Southern alumna Nicole Gustman. For the last several years, the market has been located in Fleming Plaza, which houses the Village Market.
Before the market was located in Fleming Plaza, it sold baked goods, cheeses and more at the Chattanooga market, as well as at surrounding eateries including Local Juice, Cashew, Nutrition World, Juice Bar, Georgia Winery and the Village Market, according to its Instagram.
On March 28, 2021, Crumbleberry Market posted on Instagram a photo of the counter where customers used to order, with the caption “We have loved opening our doors this past month and are excited to be expanding our hours!” This post was reflecting on the recent opening of the market in Fleming Plaza.
At the same time, Gustman continued having a booth at the Chattanooga Market on Sundays, according to Instagram, as well as her creations continuing to be sold at local grocery stores and other eateries.
Gustman shared her inspiration for Crumbleberry Market with the Accent in 2022, saying, “I love food. … I started baking at home a lot. And then, at some point, I was like, ‘Oh, maybe I could make money doing this.’ And I started by selling … some products over at the Village Market.”
Gustman also mentioned in 2022 that she was open to offering her food as a part of Southern’s meal plan. “If we can figure it out in the future, we would be interested in [offering a meal plan option],’ Gustman said, “I know it clearly is something that the students are interested in us doing.”
A few Southern students decided to comment on Crumbleberry’s Instagram post.
“Crumbleberry you will always have my love,” commented Sharmaine Monreal, junior medical laboratory science major.
“On behalf of all Southern students, we miss your pumpkin muffins. We’ll be following along! I hope you guys can still be close to campus,” Ella Huffman, senior health science major, commented.
In an email to the Accent, Justin Moore, associate vice president for Financial Administration, said “While Southern appreciates the value and quality that Crumbleberry brought to our campus and surrounding community, we do not consider it appropriate to provide information about specific lease agreement details, or to comment publicly on the business operations, decisions and/or posts of tenants.”
Although many questions have been left unanswered, both Moore and Gustman have decided to not speak with the Accent on this topic for the foreseeable future.
