Philip is a professor at MTSU in business school, with his main topic as real estate, while Cathy works as a manufacturer’s representative in the boutique industry, something she has enjoyed her entire career. They said it was Center Hill Lake that first drew the couple to the area, a place they soon fell in love with.

“We actually started going to the lake,” Philip explained. “That is what brought us up her originally. We just fell in love with the community and ended up getting some property off Coconut Ridge. We’ve started building a place out there. We started with a little cabin, and now we’re working on a big barn. We’ve slowly been moving our life, and everything about our life, out here to DeKalb County and Smithville.”

Philip grew up in Sandy Springs, Georgia, and moved to Middle Tennessee 30 years ago. “When I got out of college, I got my first job and lived in what we called ‘Brentioch’ halfway between Brentwood and Antioch.

After moving to Murfreesboro, the couple began visiting DeKalb County, and shopping at Griffin’s Produce. “We live in Murfreesboro and have been coming up here for 10 years, and have been shopping here (Griffin’s) for about eight years, and we’ve always loved it. They always had great produce and great service, and when we saw it for sale, we thought it would be a great way to retire one day. We thought it would be a great way to engage in the community,” Philip said.

“We thought about it, and thought about it … and realized it might not be for sale when we were ready to retire. That’s when we made the decision. We’ve been thinking about what we want to do when I retire, and when this opportunity came up, it just seemed perfect,” Philip said. “I love farming and serving great, high-quality food and produce, and my wife has spent her career in the gift and fashion industry. It matched both of our passions, even though it came a little earlier than we had planned.”

The Seagraves said they are particularly happy to keep longtime employee Michael Saylors as part of the team to manage the day-to-day operations. “We have great people working here, like Michael. He’s able to handle the business and keep it open, because we still work.”

Cathy, who has over 30 years of experience in fashion merchandising and the gift industry, continues her full-time work as a fashion and gift representative, selling products to small boutiques and gift shops. She will guide the boutique next to Griffin's Produce, known as “Just a Little Southern Charm” or “The Boutique @ Griffin’s Produce,” and she’ll also have a great team to manage daily operations.

As for the produce market, Philip said he will continue to have great fresh produce available and will even try to be available through the winter months. “I believe in healthy eating and having high-quality food, so to be a part of selling fresh fruits and vegetables, that are from this region, is great. Most of our food comes from within a couple of hours drive. We can leave at four in the morning, get to the farms, and be back here by noon. We go all through Middle Tennessee, to western Kentucky, and sometimes the border with Alabama. We have local honey from Alexandria and Smithville, and are trying to get some local canners.”

“We think we’re going to try to stay open through the winter. The key will be customers that continue to come in, and give us ideas on what we need to have here.”

Griffin's Produce is located at 316 West Broad Street across from Larry’s Discount Grocery in Smithville.