Manhattan’s Wall Street and the stock market may be unpredictable, but Wall Street Market in downtown Asheville prides itself on its consistency, reliability and welcoming environment. “We are open 8am to midnight, seven days a week,” says Sam Souhail proudly. “I’d say we have the most consistent hours of any place in town,” adds his wife, Brooke Souhail. “We’re open 365 days a year, barring any major emergency.”

Even in the wake of Hurricane Helene in September 2024 — the most major emergency and biggest disaster to hit Western North Carolina in a century – Wall Street Market didn’t close. “We did reduce our hours a little bit for a short time,” Sam admits. “But we were the only shop downtown open through the aftermath.”

What the Souhails don’t boast about is that they are the only full service, stuffed with inventory, packed-with-products convenience store within downtown Asheville, and its location on tiny little Wall Street means it is walkable from hotels, short-term rentals, bars, restaurants and entertainment venues.

Which is especially convenient for downtown Asheville’s hospitality workers. “So many of our customers are industry folk who work downtown,” says Brooke. “We’re the spot where they stop in the morning on their way to work to energize. And where they stop after their shift for whatever they need to take home.”

Wall Street Market is the couple’s biggest investment and footprint in downtown commerce, but not their first. They arrived in Asheville in 2011; Brooke, who grew up in Wilkes County, was enrolled in culinary at AB-Tech. Sam, who is from Morocco, focused on opening Tobacco Plus, a small store on Eagle Street. Though they carried some beverages and snacks, as the name implies, they specialized in tobacco products and premium, hand-rolled cigars (Wall Street has a walk-in humidor.)

After nearly a dozen years building their business there, the landlord informed them their lease would not be renewed. “It was very hard to find affordable space to lease, especially because we wanted to stay downtown,” Brooke says. “We love the scene there and wanted to stay, but it took right up to the last minute. We literally moved from Eagle Street to Wall Street in 24 hours in June 2022.”

As stressful as it was, the couple say that the silver lining in the move was more than doubling their space and expanding to a full-on market. On an everyday basis, shoppers will find everything from wine to baby wipes, frozen meals to trail mix bars, OTC medications, feminine care products, eggs, milk, snacks, pet food, yogurt, ice cream, diapers, bread, packaged deli meat, condiments, fresh fruit, canned goods, paper products and all kinds of protection – sun screen, sun glasses, rain ponchos, umbrellas, knit hats, and ball caps.

They carry specialties from multiple local makers – Asheville Tea, Poppy Popcorn, breweries, cideries, NA beverages from Devil’s Foot and Waynesville Soda Jerks, bags of Dynamite Roasting Co. coffee, and hand-crafted jewelry from local artists.

Their new location puts them close to all the big events downtown and they keep a close eye on the Explore Asheville and Asheville Chamber of Commerce calendars to prepare. “We had free hot cider and hot chocolate for the Asheville Holiday  Parade and were very busy for the Asheville Mardi Gras Parade,” Sam says.

As for the two long weekends that musical phenomenon Billy Strings took over Asheville, the Souhails get practically giddy. “He brought a lot of people and a lot of business to everyone, which was really uplifting after going through Helene,” observes Brooke. “We were really glad to have him here.”

They’re looking forward to the return of tourists to Asheville and Western North Carolina this spring, summer and fall.

But more than anything, they value their committed relationship with locals.  “We are very happy to be in a town so popular with tourists and we welcome all visitors, “Brooke says. “But it’s the locals who keep us going the whole year, day in and day out. We appreciate them, and work hard to be here for them.”

More about Wall Street Market

Written by Kay West