After leaving corporate America behind in pursuit of a simpler lifestyle with her husband, Murray transplant Carrie Bryant has decided to open the Main Street Market, a locally sourced gourmet grocery store in downtown Murray.

Bryant was born and raised in Waco, Texas, and received a degree in poultry science at Texas A&M University. After college, Bryant began working in the poultry industry in Colorado, where she would spend the next eight years.

During her time in Colorado, Bryant not only met her husband but also began her master of business administration degree at Colorado State University.

Bryant and her husband made the decision to move to Murray a year ago and initially bought some farmland before getting the idea for the grocery store.

“We were kind of looking into our second career,” Bryant said. “What did we want to do? We bought some farmland in the Calloway County area… and we started to raise animals. We got to talking about what we are going to do with the meat.”

Bryant said the idea for the grocery store came from a desire to own the supply chain process for the food and to increase the variety of food available locally.

“The idea came from a sense of appreciation for how food is grown and raised as well as the varieties, tastes and product options,” Bryant said. “Murray is a small town, and unfortunately, sometimes with that you are limited to whatever Walmart and Kroger has.”

With both she and her husband having studied business administration, Bryant said owning a business was a natural fit for them.

Having decided to open the store, there was then the challenge of finding the store’s location. Bryant decided to open the store in downtown Murray, somewhere she said she had been fascinated with since arriving in Murray.

“We loved the charm of downtown Murray,” Bryant said. “It’s old school, it’s fun and ultimately, I think that there were opportunities for new businesses.”

The Main Street Market’s location is on the Court square between two other businesses, Modestly Murray and Granola Girls. The location was the former home of a scrapbooking store named Wild Raspberry.

Though she had found a location for her business, Bryant has had to complete many renovations to the building in order to bring her grocery store to life.

So far, Bryant has stripped the buildings flooring, stripped a drop ceiling to reveal the building’s original copper ceiling, repainted the building, rewired the building’s lighting and is currently working on the building’s awning and signage.

With renovations nearly complete, Bryant hopes the Main Street Market will be able to open during the month of May.

The Main Street Market will feature a wide variety of products and emphasizes local sourcing and collaboration with Kentucky farmers.

“We are targeting a lot of Kentucky Proud items,” Bryant said. “Those items are grown or manufactured in Kentucky, sourced from Kentucky.”

Main Street Market also plans to feature several different small-batch items. These are items produced in limited quantities by vendors. Many of these items were discovered at specialty food shows in places such as Dallas and Las Vegas, Bryant said.

Bryant said she looks forward to the opportunity to get to know the community and to open the doors to her store.

“Our store shelves will be stocked with [good] food,” Bryant said. “We are going to understand it, and we are going to be able to help customers with whatever need they have.”