For Sally Greene, opening her upscale overstock shop on Chapman Highway in Seymour had been a long time coming. It took 15 years in an unsatisfying ophthalmology career to make her test her skills, but this fashion merchandiser has been come into her own, drawing attention from East Tennesseans since 2001.

Sally's Alley is a small store located in quiet South Knoxville. With it's pink painted exterior, it's hard to miss. The store is strategically packed with brand name tops, dresses, purses, one-of-a-kind jewelry and the main attraction - designer jeans galore.

She sells the unusual and of course, the highly desired items, at a discounted price. The store's content varies, but consists mostly of junior contemporary selections.

Greene wouldn't dare limit herself or her store with a label, though. She just purchases what she feels is right at the moment and displays the new items outside her shop for passersby to see.

"I don't want the same things the other stores have," she said. "I want something unique and different. I think people want unique things too, not just the norm brands."  

Her eclecticism is what keeps drawing people to her shop and what has created a cult following of sorts. And it's been like this from the very beginning.

"The first day I opened it was crowded," Sally said.  "I mean no ads, no anything. It was, I guess, just curiosity. I put a sign in the window and that was it."

The stream of customers has been continuous since she opened the doors of Sally's Alley, despite her unusual choice of location.

"I know it's kind of an out-of-the-way location, but I guess people come to you when they know," Sally said. "But, it's good."

Her South Knoxville spot draws the attention of tourists traveling to Gatlinburg by way of Chapman Highway. She has a lot of clients from Sevierville, who are trying to get away from the cookie-cutter shops and the outlet malls.

Greene also has a healthy base coming from the University of Tennessee and the Knox County school systems.

"I get girls from Catholic and West high schools; from Farrugut," she said. "I get a lot from North (Knoxville) and the majority are this area. Some girls drove from North Carolina one day. They had been here before. It kind of amazes me."

It's not Greene's abundance of advertising that draws clients from places near and far - you'd be hard pressed to hear about her shop on the local radio station. Her client-building methods are much more simple than that.

"A lot of my customers are word of mouth," she said. "Which to me is great. You know people really like it when they refer people."

 
Once people discover her they tell a friend, a co-worker and their mother. This is why there isn't one type of person who shops at Sally's Alley. It's a mixture, just like her stock. Her customers range in age from middle school girls to grandmothers.

"It's kind of all over the place," Sally said.  "Usually high school. Yesterday I had two little ladies come in and the oldest lady was probably 82, but the target (age group) is probably up to 50 or so."

First time shoppers are always amazed that they discovered this hidden gem in the middle of nowhere. Their initial question, after the praise subsides, is why not relocate to the city?

Greene offers the newbies a smile and a shrug.

"This is what I've always wanted to do," she said.  "Just a small shop, nothing huge."

Sally's Alley testimonial from Kelly Hunt on Vimeo. Amy Walz, a graduate student in UT's School of Journalism and Electronic Media program explains why she likes Sally's Alley.

How Sally got into the overstock business

"I've always been sort of a bargain shopper," Greene said. "When you can go buy things at a discount that are still quality and are still affordable, then why pay $300 for a pair of jeans when you can pay half of that? And I guess that's why it attracted me so much."

Even during her ophthalmology career, there were signs that her heart was someplace else.

"I just always knew," Sally said. "I would go to estate sales and put (new-found treasures) in my basements and hold onto them because I just knew one day I would just do it. And then I did it.

"It's just what I've always wanted to do," she said. "It took a while, but everything just kind of worked out. I hated my job and just quit and then everything just fell into place."

The opening of Sally's Alley

 It was a family effort, making Greene's dream come true. Together they gutted the building once used for storage for her husband's florist shop. She bought all her business equipment from Dale Parhan, who had sold his shop on Market Square. Finally, Sally decided she was ready.

"Me and my dad and my husband moved one night," she said. "We found some homeless guys on Gay Street and my Dad said 'Hey guys, you all want to make some money,' and they helped us move.

There was a food and clothing drive on Gay Street that day, she recalled. And the homeless men were waiting in line.

"You want to help us?" her dad asked.

"And they came and helped us," she said. "We paid them and got them some dinner and I opened the next day."

Her support system

Greene and her husband, Tim, met while attending Doyle High School, but they were never an item. Later in life, they fell in love and got married. They decided to stay in the Knoxville area because of their close-knit circle of family and friends.

"Born and raised in South Knox," Sally said. "We still run around with so many of our lifelong friends from fourth grade. It's just where my roots are."

The two have been married for 22 years. "And we still like each other," she said, adding that Tim has always been supportive of her ambition.

Having been self-employed for about 20 years at the time, Sally said he knew the risks of entrepreneurship all too well.

"He knew this was what I always wanted to do so of course he was really behind me, but he was really nervous," she said. "But he wouldn't tell me that."

Tim kept her close though - his shop, Betty's Florist, is right next door. His proximity to Sally has come in handy time and time again.

"He's over here constantly," she said. "He brings me lunch every day. If a light bulb goes out, he runs to the store to get me one. If I have a shoplifter, he comes over.

"He helps a lot. Last night, he picked me up for dinner and I still had customers, so he carried all my stuff in. ... He's a lot of help. And of course (he was a vital help) initially, getting it all started."