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Wlaf1450‘Pop was an amazing grocery business man’- Rob Woodson, Pop’s grandson
LAFOLLETTE, TN. (WLAF)- When Dr. John and Sarah Woodson settled in Powell Valley before The Civil War broke out, they probably had no idea their family name would become synonymous with groceries, business and community involvement.
For more than 100 years, the Woodson Family has lived and worked in Campbell County.
In 1919, RL Woodson, Sr., often called ‘Pop,’ opened a grocery store in LaFollette that would later become a legacy. The store was located where Derrick’s Pawn Shop now stands in the heart of town. In those days, the shopping was left to the grocer. Shoppers would hand Pop their list, and he would pick their groceries. When The Great Depression hit and other businesses closed, the grocery stayed open. But times were tough, according to Rob Woodson, the third generation to steer the business.
By 1940, RL Woodson, Jr., joined the family business. In about 1945, he added another store to the roster, The Circus Market. It was in downtown LaFollette right beside Pop’s store, and the two stores joined in the back. There’s a walkway from the main road to the back city parking lot where The Circus Market once stood.
“Pop was an amazing grocery business man. He marketed both his stores, Woodson’s and The Circus Market, in a way that customers were motivated to shop both stores. Most folks had no idea he owned both stores,” said Rob.
Once, the family crossed county lines to sell groceries.
“We opened another store in Oak Ridge at Elza Gate in the early 1950s, and the store was located just outside the gate that you had to go through to get in and out of Oak Ridge,” said Rob Woodson.
“Then my father built what is commonly known as “old” Woodson’s which was in 1958. That’s where I started working at 10 years old,” said Rob. It was Woodson’s Supermarket located on the four lane in LaFollette. This was Pop’s son Bobby, RL Woodson, Jr.’s store. “People said he wouldn’t make it, because he was so far out of town. That land was a cow pasture when he bought it,” said Rob Woodson.
The star in the family crown came in 1978 with Woodson’s New World of Shopping. Not only was it a grocery store, but it was also a mall, a first for Campbell County. Within the mall were 30 stores.
With its U shaped portico shoppers could pull up and have their groceries put in the car. That was also a first for the area.
Scoring another first was using UPC code to scan items at the checkout. “My father was way ahead of his time when he came up with that idea,” said Rob Woodson.
Moving across the road, the Woodson family added Pizza Hut, Goodyear, Rose’s retail store and The Movies.
Woodson’s New World of Shopping closed in 2004, later leasing the space to Food City. Another grocery store, IGA, moved in at The Woodson’s Supermarket location in 2008 before closing in the last few years.
(WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED 9/22/2025-6AM-PHOTOS COURTESY OF WLAF’S CHARLIE HUTSON)