Tiny Grocer‘s South Congress flagship is preparing to close, but owner Steph Steele says the move marks the beginning of the company’s next chapter — not the end.
The locally owned specialty grocer announced on Instagram that its flagship store on South Congress will close, but emphasized that the closure is part of a long-planned relocation to a larger East Austin space. Steele told the Austin American-Statesman that the decision has been in the works for nearly a year as the business outgrew its original home.
The new location at 2411 E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. is currently under construction inside the former Longhorn Meat Market building. Steele said she hopes to open the new store later this year.
The company has already signed a letter of intent for a future location on South First Street, though Steele said the project remains at least 18 months away and could take as long as two years while development progresses.
“Since Music Lane went in, we’ve been seeing a real shift in what is South Congress,” Steele said. “There are more and more big brands and national brands. Every big city has one of those areas, and it’s pretty obvious to me that South Congress is changing into one of those areas.”
Steele said rising rents ultimately made it impossible for the flagship’s 1,800-square-foot space to keep pace with the company’s ambitions. She was quick to note the decision was not the result of a dispute with the property’s owners.
Instead, Steele said the relocation will allow Tiny Grocer to expand beyond what was possible inside the original storefront, which lacked a full commercial kitchen.
Steele said the company intentionally waited to announce the South Congress closure until employees had been informed. Every staff member has been offered a position at the new MLK store or the Hyde Park location during the transition.
The new 3,500-square-foot MLK location will feature the company’s first in-house butcher shop, a smoker for barbecue developed with the help of a Michelin-starred pitmaster, rotisserie chicken, fresh-baked bread, grab-and-go meals made in-house, an expanded deli, coffee and cocktails.
“It’s about the same size as Hyde Park,” Steele said. “This will be the first store where we get to play with baking fresh bread.”
Tiny Grocer first opened its South Congress flagship in 2021 after owner Steph Steele took over the former Farm to Market space, a neighborhood grocery that had operated there since 2005. Steele renovated and rebranded the store, reopening it with more than 3,000 products ranging from local staples like Franklin Barbecue sauce and Barton Springs Mill flour to nationally recognized Texas brands such as Siete Family Foods.