By Tabitha Evans Moore | EDITOR & PUBLISHER

In Lynchburg, family roots run as deep as the limestone that filters the spring water just down the road at Jack Daniel’s. For six generations, the Woodard family has tilled that soil, tended that land, and nourished their neighbors – first as farmers, then as feed suppliers, and now as grocers. Their market, perched just off Highway 55, isn’t just a place to grab a loaf of bread or a pack of bacon. It’s a living testament to resilience, community, and the quiet power of staying local.

The Woodard story begins in the late 1960s, when Jean and Sutton Woodard bought a small grocery called Woodard’s Bi-Rite, once located where a Company Distilling building now stands just off the Fayetteville Highway. It was a modest block structure that burned in the 1970s but rose again from the ashes – a fitting metaphor for a family that has rebuilt itself more than once.

After selling the store when their daughter was sixteen, the Woodards turned to farming and bulk feed, hauling cottonseed and feed grain across state lines.

 “When Jack Daniel’s stopped selling slop back then, it pushed a lot of local families out of the cattle business,” their daughter, Missy Woodard, recalls. “We had to pivot.”

That pivot came full circle twenty years later. By 2002, Jean and Sutton – alongside their children – Chuck and Missy – decided to bring back something Lynchburg desperately needed: an independent grocery store. A formal market survey confirmed what their instincts already knew: locals wanted a community grocer, not another convenience stop. So, they broke ground on a new building, hired back beloved butcher Donald Walker, and opened Woodard’s Market on April 21, 2002.

{EDITOR’S NOTE: Locally-owned, small businesses are the lifeblood of small, rural towns. Our small business profiles are sponsored by our community partners at First Community Bank. Please support the local businesses that support your community newspaper.}

A Legacy Measured in Generations

Today, four generations work under the same roof. Jean and Sutton’s children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren can be found behind the registers, in the meat department, or out front greeting customers. Even little Oaklyn, one of the youngest, has already mastered the art of counting change.

That intergenerational thread ties Woodard’s to the larger tapestry of Lynchburg’s history. The family farm itself – passed down from matriarch Mattie Matlock to her son, Crawford Matlock and then his daughter, Jean Matlock Woodard – is now in its sixth generation of continuous operation.

“I’ve never lived anywhere but on that farm,” Missy says proudly.

Homemade Traditions and Local Flavor

If Lynchburg has a best-kept culinary secret, it might just be hidden behind Woodard’s deli counter. The market’s house-made pimento cheese – crafted by longtime employee Derek Millsaps – has become the stuff of local legend, with between 250 and 450 pounds made fresh every week. Shoppers will also find hand-ground sausage, custom-cut steaks, and old-fashioned hamburgers made from whole cuts of beef – not pre-packaged meat. Some locals and folks from the surrounding counties refuse to buy their fresh meat anywhere else.

Local sourcing is a point of pride. Shelves are lined with Grandpa Yoder’s jellies from Sparta, Amish butter, and locally produced honey whenever it’s available. The market also keeps rural needs in mind, offering horse and chicken feed after hours for working farmers.

“It’s about serving the community we’re part of,” Missy says. “If there’s something our customers want, we do our best to find it.”

Neighbors Serving Neighbors

Woodard’s Market is more than a store – it’s a gathering place. Regulars start arriving before dawn, coffee in hand, to swap stories at the back tables while the smell of fresh biscuits fills the air. Some customers stop in four times a day: breakfast, break, lunch, and supper. Others drop by just to check in, to make sure everyone’s doing all right.

That sense of kinship extends beyond the checkout line. The family donates heavily to local schools and youth programs, investing in the next generation of Moore County residents.

“We focus on kids’ organizations,” she says simply. “They give to us, so we give back.”

Rooted in Resilience

Running a small, independent grocery isn’t easy. Rising costs, labor shortages, and supply-chain disruptions have made the business tougher than ever.

“You used to make dimes on everything you sold,” Missy says. “Now you make pennies.”

Yet the entire Woodard family remains steadfast.

Every month, Woodard’s Market contributes roughly $30,000 in sales tax to the local economy and provides steady jobs for Moore Countians, many of whom have been there since the store opened 23 years ago. For those who remember a time when families shopped close to home, that matters.

Open at 5 a.m., often seven days a week, and even on holidays, Woodard’s stands as a cornerstone of the community’s daily life. The community grocery store has saved more than one Christmas. An all-volunteer staff works until around noon on Christmas Day just in case a local needs something last minute.

“We’ve always opened on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day,” she says with a laugh. “It’s tradition. My parents started it.”

And that’s what Woodard’s really is: tradition, carried forward with care. In an era when national chains dominate the grocery landscape, this little market in Lynchburg remains proudly family-owned, American-run, and Moore County-made.

“We just want to be here for the local people,” Missy says. “For them to help us –and for us to help them.” •

{The Lynchburg Times is a nonpartisan, independent community newspaper serving Lynchburg, Tennessee and the surrounding counties. We are dedicated to public service journalism for the greater good of our community. You can support us, by clicking here.}