For the Love of Gatlinburg: S1, E9 — Gatlinburg's Grocer

Junior Watson is the Store Manager of Food City — Gatlinburg's sole full-service grocery store, and for many locals and repeat visitors alike, a genuine community hub. But Junior's ties to the area run far deeper than his career: his family settled in what was then called White Oak Flats back in the 1700s, after (as family legend has it) getting "run out" of Haywood County, North Carolina. By his and his father's best count, Junior represents seven generations of Watsons in Gatlinburg.

Junior, 45, grew up on a dirt road that eventually became the paved two-lane road it is today, attending Caton's Chapel Elementary and Gatlinburg-Pittman High School — the same school his mother attended, and where two of his own three children currently attend (the third has already graduated). He speaks with real pride about GP's academic track record, particularly its long history of National Merit Scholars under longtime guidance counselor Don Bohanan, alongside the athletic success of its football, basketball, soccer, and baseball programs.

The conversation traces Junior's path from a childhood spent watching for black bears near the Chimneys picnic area to his nearly three-decade career with Food City, starting in 1996 and moving into the Gatlinburg store's management in October 2008. Junior discusses Food City's deep community involvement — from supporting the new Mountain Hope Good Shepherd Clinic to disaster response during the 2016 wildfires — as well as his own decades of service through the Gatlinburg Rotary Club, where he's a past president and helps coordinate the club's tradition of flying flags for 13 holidays a year.

• Seven generations in Gatlinburg. Junior's family settled in what was then called White Oak Flats back in the 1700s, after his ancestors reportedly left Haywood County, North Carolina — making his family's roots in the area older than Gatlinburg's name itself.
• A childhood built around bear-watching, not bear-feeding. Junior recalls family trips to the Chimneys picnic area with a bucket of KFC, watching (but never feeding) black bears that stayed deeper in the mountains than they tend to today.
• Gatlinburg-Pittman's academic reputation runs deep. Junior credits longtime guidance counselor Don Bohanan with helping generations of GP students secure significant college scholarship money, alongside the school's well-known athletic success in football, girls' basketball, and boys' soccer.
• Food City as a genuine community anchor. As Gatlinburg's only full-service grocery store, Food City has supported local causes from the new Mountain Hope Good Shepherd Clinic to disaster relief — including its parent company's continued philanthropic ties to the area, such as its CEO purchasing property on Ski Mountain.
• Averaging 25,000–30,000 transactions a week. Junior notes that grocery shopping in Gatlinburg is often a family affair — whole households and friend groups descend on the store together as part of their vacation experience, not just a quick errand.
• A lifelong Rotarian, following in others' footsteps. Junior is a past president of the Gatlinburg Rotary Club, which coordinates flag displays for 13 holidays a year and helped charter the local Boy Scout troop — a legacy Junior says he strives to live up to, inspired partly by fellow Rotarian Ralph Ogle.
• The 2016 fires as a defining community moment. Food City lost power for about 16 hours during the wildfires but reopened quickly with corporate support, and Junior recalls the broader community response as a time when people simply asked, "What can we do to help?" rather than assigning blame.
• A hope to "leave it like I got it." Looking decades ahead, Junior's hope for Gatlinburg is simple: that the mountains keep flourishing, the community stays grounded in its roots, and future generations inherit the same home he's never wanted to leave.