Meet Jason and Jesica Clemmons of Sunrise Grocery in Blairsville

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jason Clemmons and Jesica Clemmons.

Jason and Jesica, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Sunrise Grocery is the oldest business in Union County. It was established in the early 1920’s and has been serving these hills since. It all started for my family in 1983. My parents and I were on vacation when I was just a kid at Trackrock campground. My dad and I walked into the store and my dad sarcastically asked the old man behind the counter if he was interested in selling his store. Mr. Comer Saxon replied “yes”. My dad and him talked for a bit and before I knew it we were invited to his house for dinner to discuss the options. About 3 months later I was kicking and screaming on our move to the mountains from Florida. Time past and my parents made Sunrise their own. When I graduated high school, and headed to college I couldn’t get out of the mountains fast enough. I headed to the bright lights and energy of Atlanta. A few years went by and in 1997 the mountains called…. I moved back and my story at Sunrise began.

My wife Jesica and I now run Sunrise and are doing better than ever! We have 3 kids Meredith, Nick, and Ian. At first Sunrise was the go to for all your needs. We supplied the local campgrounds with the day to day goods along with some produce, camping supplies, antiques, and gifts. Once our little town started to grow the dollar stores and a Wal-Mart moved in. Obviously, we can’t compete so that business started to leave. So, we totally changed how we do things and went local! The best decision I’ve ever made here. While we might not sell as much bread or milk we now sell what our area makes and provides! My wife has started a very successful soap and candle business called Sunrise Wick and Wash.

All the soaps and Appalachian themed. I’ve gained some success as a landscape photographer here in the mountains. So, we sell a lot of that here at the store which has added a great personal touch. We also carry local jams n jellies, local sourwood honey (best honey on Earth that is only available in Appalachia), sorghum syrup, local pottery, fried pies and apple bread, and our World Famous Boiled Pnuts. We still have all of our local produce when in season and all the goods the campers need to enjoy their stay. We recently just got voted in South Living as the most charming country store in the south!! That is the second time we’ve been in Southern living. My parents got in there with the boiled pnuts! Hints why we call them World Famous! Sunrise now has become a way of life for us. We have the same people over and over as this little store has become a staple to their vacation. We often think how lucky we are to live in these mountains and have a little store like Sunrise to provide for us.

Has it been a smooth road?
I touched on this in the description. The challenges were the big stores. Even some of the larger vendors we had started to pull out once business started to slide. I went around and around with them because I felt without stores like me, in the beginning, they wouldn’t be where they were at.

Of course, they didn’t care about my 2 cents. Well once we adapted we had our best years when the economy collapses and so many stores like us went out of business. So, everything worked out! Now we made our money circle small and try to carry what these mountains and its people provides. That has made us different than most. We don’t order out of catalogs. I know all my vendors and most are good friends. So those obstacles turned out to be advantages.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Sunrise Grocery story. Tell us more about the business.
We specialize in local goods such as pottery, candies, chow chow and relishes, local honey, local sorghum syrup, local grits and cornmeal, boiled pnuts is our niche. The personal touches here is the huge success of my wife’s soap business Sunrise Wick and Wash, My landscape photography business JMC artistic photography, and my mom’s knitting. All are sold here and that makes a neat story.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We will stay true to being local. It’s good to always adapt and stay fresh so what comes next no one knows. Some of the plans are to grow the soap and photography business. The store will stay original and we always plan to maintain the vibe. That’s what sets us apart and it can’t be duplicated. We are still in the original building with old wood floors. So, it’s kinda special.