Henpeck Village Market, at 1268 Lewisburg Pike in Franklin, is closed for the near future at least.
The property is for sale, and there are no current plans to re-open the restaurant under the current ownership, according to Megan Hawkes, who spoke for Henpeck Village Market, Inc, which owns the property.
The restaurant’s employees have been let go.
“Primarily we closed for economic reasons. The decision to close was made a couple weeks ago. But for us, it is not making money and we felt it was time to re-evaluate,” Hawkes said.
“We hope to find the right buyer, it is a beautiful piece of property, and has had roots in the community for years, so we are hopeful that we will find a buyer to keep it as Henpeck Market. If we find the right scenario, we will reopen, and it would probably still be Henpeck, because that is what it has always been.”
Hawkes works as the communications director for the company that owns Henpeck Market Village Inc, but said she would not name it out of respect for the employees who were just let go. Henpeck Market Village Inc bought the property this past March from Carl Moore, who had owned it since 2011.
Hawkes expressed regret at having to close.
“This is difficult because this is a beloved restaurant, and unfortunately there are now people looking for jobs who worked here,” Hawkes said. “We want to totally respect them, and make them as whole as possible. We took good care of them, we honored them on their way out, to make sure that they are whole.”
“This has been a good restaurant for a number of years.”
The restaurant posted the following message on its Facebook earlier this week:
“Thank you for your patronage. We value your friendship and long-time support in our community. We are closing our doors for remodeling and hope to open again in the future.
We are grateful for the staff that has given their all to Henpeck over the years, including folks like Miss Lizzie who made her world-famous biscuits here for over 30 years!
We can’t even name the countless employees who have poured their hearts and soul into Henpeck. The staff and their families have been consistently grateful for customers and friends who have been supportive through generations of friendship, food and fun.
We wish to thank you and all of our community, including our friends on social media, for caring about the people who work here. From our families to yours, thank you and may God bless you.”
The market and restaurant has stood through many of the changes of Franklin over the past three decades.
In 1984, Henpeck Market opened as a country grocery and general store that served as a place to get a good homestyle meal and cup of coffee. It was bought and revived at the same time as the revival of Franklin.
In 2011, it almost closed for good, but Carl Moore, a longtime regular, refused to see it go. He bought it and revitalized and renovated the market to retain its old charm but also allow it to flourish in modern Franklin.
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Henpeck Market was open when we moved here in 1978. It was a different building and had dirt floors. They had gas pumps until the last several years (when they pulled them out the business started declining). From the beginning you could get sandwiches, hot dogs, hamburgers and hot lunches. It was a sweet place where the owners knew who you were and who your kids were!! I miss the REAL Henpeck! RIP ole girl..
We live on Henpeck Lane and are/were regulars. Henpeck’s hamburgers, daily specials, and breakfast buffet were fabulous. New owners ran it off the road with poor service, poor facilities management and – so we heard – mistreatment of employees. It was a neighborhood treasure and a family favorite. We will miss it.
After Mr. Moore who loved people and being inside the Henpeck, sold the market, you had to know it was not to be. The old Henpeck wasn’t broke, it was on auto pilot, good people, good food, good prices! That all changed with the new owners. hated to see it go, but she was already gone by the time the For sale sign went up out front! A place like this is a labor of love and the love was all gone!