Local teenager is the new owner of fresh market in Clemson

Jackson Brooks finds himself at an unfamiliar place for most 19-year-olds — owning and operating a business. He’s the owner of Hometown Market, a fresh market in Clemson that sells a wide variety of products. 

Brooks worked at Concord Market, a fresh market in Anderson, through high school. He said the time spent working there helped him learn the managerial side of running a business. 

“I happened to meet the guy that owned this place, Hometown Market, told him that if he ever wanted to sell to kind of let me know,” Brooks said. “A year later he called me, and we bought it in November (2023).” 

His parents helped Brooks purchase the business. 

“Obviously, I’m 19 years old. Financially, I wasn’t in a place where I had all the money up front to do it, and so I needed a little help and they were more than willing to help, which was awesome,” Brooks said. “They help a lot behind the scenes.” 

Make no mistake, though, Brooks is the one running the ship. The business opened up March 12 and has “been going ever since.” 

“We do a variety of different things,” he said. “Produce is a big thing here in the summer. We do watermelon, cantaloupe, local strawberries, peaches, blackberries. Any produce you can think of we probably got it.”

The market also sells dairy products sourced from local dairy farms, such as Happy Cow Creamery in Pelzer and Hensley’s Farm in Iva. Eggs are sourced from Cedar Ridge Farm, right down the road in Pendleton. 

Brooks and his team do a lot more than that. Dry goods, coffee, freezer meals, jams and jellies and knickknacks round out the selection in the market off of U.S. Highway 76. 

“Overall goal is to bring as many local products into one place to where it’s kind of an easy place for people to come find anything they could possibly want,” Brooks said. “We try to have it all.”

Hometown Market also sells seafood — something that requires a bit longer work commute than most people expect. 

“I drive down to Charleston every other Thursday evening, spend the night and we’re normally (back) here around lunchtime,” Brooks said. His market sells a variety of seafood items, including shrimp, flounder, mahi-mahi and tuna.

“The best seafood you’re gonna find in South Carolina is coming out of Charleston, Murrells Inlet, Pawleys Island,” Brooks said. “I’m not gonna say I love driving to Charleston … but it’s worth it. … I just think the satisfaction of the customer is what makes it worth it.” 

‘Definitely a gift from God’

In a lot of school systems today, guidance counselors, teachers and administrators usually preach to their students “college or bust.” Despite this, Brooks has proven there’s no specific route to success. 

“I have proven it — but I’m still doing it. It’s surreal number one. It’s definitely a gift from God. It was just an opportunity that I don’t want to say fell in my lap, I want to say I earned it,” Brooks said. “But it definitely happened faster than expected.” 

Still, Brooks is actually attending college while running the business. He started out at Tri-County Technical College and has since transferred to Anderson University, where he says he does his work online, and hopes to finish his degree by next year. While in his unique position, Brooks said not everyone has to go to college. 

“I don’t believe that everybody should go to school, I don’t think it’s for everybody,” Brooks said. “I did it because I was already so far into it at that point, it was worth finishing. My goal the whole time was something like this (owning Hometown Market).” 

And despite his age, Brooks said he’s been ready for this.

“I felt like I had the experience, it was just getting myself in the situation to be able to thrive in it,” Brooks said. “Just getting into a situation where once I got my foot in the door, I knew I could make it happen. I didn’t have a doubt in my mind.”