A long-time staple for your gardening and other needs in North Knoxville is closing their doors.
Family owned Mayo Garden Center is closing their Powell location due to staffing shortages within the company. No official date has been announced but it could close later this summer.
Everything in the store is on sale. Mayo Garden Center sells power tools, outdoor furniture and gardening supplies and has been in Powell for about 25 years.
“It’s more than a business,” says store manager Derek Richards.
Richards says it’s unclear exactly when the store will close but says it will likely be later this summer. He says staffing shortages at that location, along with the two Knoxville locations has led to the store’s closing.
“For the far west store mainly,” Richards says. “With the service department, parts, sales associates, they just really struggled with it.”
Richards says it’s been going on for a couple of years, like many industries have dealt with post-pandemic hiring issues. He says the store’s employees will be transferred to the other two locations to help with staffing.
Plus, Richards says Mayo Garden Center is moving away from power equipment at all of their locations. He says the store closing will leave a hole in the community. Richards says “They’ve counted on us for 20-something years and to be here, we’ve been pretty consistent as far as that goes and I think we do well here with customer service.”
He says saying goodbye to the staff and customers will be the hardest part of shutting the doors.
Despite the Powell location closing, Richards says the two Knoxville locations, Bearden and Cedar Bluff, are in no danger of closing.
