After six years on Market Square, the downtown Petro’s Chili & Chips location will close its doors for good at 3 p.m. this Friday. The Knoxville-born brand—birthed at the 1982 World’s Fair and known for its hearty Frito-pies and Hint-of-Orange iced tea—will transfer downtown operations to its soon-to-reopen Powell location.
After a couple weeks of rumblings, yesterday multiple distressed readers alerted me to a sign on the door announcing the closure. Alex Widmer, chief operating officer and son of Petro’s co-founder Dale Widmer, confirmed that the Market Square location has been doing well but an impending substantial rent increase has made remaining in the space untenable.
“We love our downtown fans and hate to leave so suddenly,” he told me. “We simply can’t absorb that increase while continuing to invest in the location and stay profitable. That’s the hard truth – but the story is bigger than that.”
Opening downtown was Alex’s impetus for returning to the second-generation family business in 2019 (see IOK’s story here). So, its closure stings. “It’s heartbreaking to close a place so special to me and to Knoxville,” Alex said. “But we have to be wise stewards of our people, our capacity and our resources to ensure Petro’s can thrive another 40 years in this community that’s given us, given me, so much.”
Not counting Market Square, there are presently six Petro’s locations in Knoxville and surrounding areas: Cedar Bluff, Farragut, Lenoir City, Maryville, West Town Mall and West Hills. Three more are in the Tri-Cities: Bristol, Johnson City and Greeneville. Additionally, Petro’s is a gameday staple in Neyland Stadium (disclaimer: I slung Petro’s at a few football games when I was a UT student) and Thompson-Boling Arena (at Food City Center, whatever).
Four Petro’s franchises – Clinton, Oak Ridge, Seymour and Powell – closed in July of this year due to financial issues left behind by a previous franchisee. It was a bummer of a situation but beyond the control of corporate, which will reopen the Powell location on Emory Road next month – Alex hopes around his dad’s 70th birthday on Dec. 8.
“This is a step toward long-term growth for Petro’s,” Alex said. “This move gives us space and focus to invest in the future of the brand for the next generation.”
So what’s that future look like, exactly? Who knows, but Alex has some big dreams. Petro’s has attempted to expand before. It has enjoyed some promising partnerships – its beloved Hint-of-Orange iced tea was in grocery stores across the southeast, and locations were opened in Chattanooga, Arkansas, North Carolina and in stadiums and arenas across the southeast.
But Petro’s Chili & Chips has never quite taken off elsewhere the way it has in its hometown.
Alex, who comes from a professional background in creative direction, possesses a keen understanding of brand storytelling. He talked about how Petro’s has a way of outing whether you’re a local or not; i.e. if you’ve lived here long enough, you use “Petro” as a noun the same way one uses “Kleenex.” Obviously, if you live here, it’s a cup of corn chips with chili, cheese, and all the fixin’s, doused in hot sauce if you please.
To everyone else it’s a Frito pie; to us, it’s a Petro.
The decor at Petro’s Market Square location played the company’s extraordinary and intimately local success story like a fiddle. There were game day photos, a timeline of Petro’s history, a downtown map mural by local artist Paris Woodhull (who, fun fact, worked at 2 Market Square when it was Reruns) and downtown kids’ crayon art, which, who can resist that? It celebrated 1982 World’s Fair lore with retro ‘80s video game inspired tees and images of the Sunsphere here and there.
But Petro’s branding, as endearing as it is to the natives, hasn’t translated so effortlessly to other markets. And not just the “what” of Petro’s, also the “why”: Chili is most associated with cold weather food, but it can be so much more than that. “We’ve spent a lot of time making mistakes and trying to expand, but maybe we can do it if we change the perception,” Alex said.
Many downtowners will mourn Petro’s loss as it has been one of very few downtown lunch counters where you can get in and get out for under eight or nine bucks. For me, personally, when I was working a stressy downtown PR job a couple years ago, a to-go vegetarian pasta Petro, devoured at my desk with about nine packets of hot sauce and not a single thought in my head, washed down with a Coke Zero from the company fridge, was the emotional support food that got me through my day.
Petro’s menu has evolved over the years. Today you can get a Petro for sure (now available in vegan, vegetarian, or original), but there are also giant baked potatoes, hot dogs, nachos, salad wedges – and DON’T GET ME STARTED on the sweet vinaigrette cucumbers.
Now, Alex is rolling out updated branding and a new tagline: Love at first bite. The whole “the ‘80s called, they want their logo back” vibe has been updated to something that all customers can embrace without the aid of locals-only nostalgia. He wants to take what they’ve learned from Knoxville – the importance of integrating and aligning your brand with the community – and potentially apply it elsewhere.
Alex, a dad of three young Disney-loving children, likens it to a scene from Moana:
- Moana: “What if … we fish beyond the reef?
- Chief Tui, Moan’s father: “No one goes beyond the reef.”
“We’re not going anywhere — in fact, we’re growing in big ways,” he said. “We know not everyone will love every decision we make, and that’s OK. Knoxville is our home, and if the right opportunity ever comes along downtown again, we’ll be back.”
But Alex wants to fish beyond the reef. “Progress isn’t always up and to the right — it’s steps, setbacks, learning, and growing more confident through it all,” he said. “When you zoom out and see the larger story of where we’ve come from since 1982, it’s an incredible journey. This is just a small bump in the road. While we’ll miss our downtown fans dearly, we hope to earn their trust and business again soon.”
Before Petro’s came along in 2019, the ground floor at 2 Market Square was occupied by I Love Juice Bar (2016-2019), preceded by Knoxville Graphic House/Rococo (2012-2015) and Reruns Boutique, where I bought most of my clothes at the time (2000-2010). That’s as far back as I can remember; I’m sure some of our readers will be able to trace its tenants back further.
And now, the scoop for which I devilishly made you scroll through my own personal autobiographical Petro’s grief memoir …
The new tenant of 2 Market Square is Alicia Douglas, owner of Green Valley Dispensary two doors down in the same building. While the details are still coalescing, she told me yesterday that it will be a retail store called The Style District featuring affordable, on-trend fashion for women and men. Alicia said that the “style” will trend toward the younger adult set but that she is in her 40s and “would wear a lot of this stuff, it’s so cute.” She expects it to open in March 2026.
Stay tuned.