Welcome back. Glad you're here.

There's a little brick storefront on West Center Street that has been quietly feeding downtown since 2011, and this week we're pulling up a chair to talk about it. The Bagel Exchange has changed hands, but the thing that made it special never left. That's a story worth telling.

In today's post:

Some places earn their spot in a town slowly, one morning at a time. The Bagel Exchange is one of those places.

It started with a man who missed home. Keith Cunningham spent twenty years on the New York City Police Department, retiring as a captain in 2010 after two decades of two-hour commutes from Long Island into the city. When he and his wife Michele decided they wanted something different, they searched the country for a place with good schools and good people, and with a little help from the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce, they landed here. Michele went to work as a math teacher. And before long the family realized the thing they missed most about New York wasn't the skyline. It was the bagels.

There were no real ones to be found in Kingsport, so Cunningham decided to make them himself. He took the idea to Aundrea Wilcox at KOSBE, half expecting to talk himself out of it once the details got real. Instead, the business plan made sense. On October 22, 2011, The Bagel Exchange opened its doors on West Center Street.

It was not an overnight success, and Cunningham never pretended it was. It took months of trial and error to learn to bake the thing right, and he always credited the early regulars who stuck with him through the learning curve. He did it the authentic way, with dough shipped in fresh from New York and baked daily, paired with cream cheeses mixed in house in flavors you couldn't get anywhere else around here. Vegetable, maple walnut, apple cinnamon raisin, and a smoked salmon bagel with capers and red onion that turned first-time visitors into regulars. Folks who grew up in Queens or out on Long Island would wander in skeptical and leave converted. That is a hard thing to pull off, and Cunningham pulled it off for more than a decade, watching downtown revitalize right alongside his shop.

When he was finally ready to step back, he didn't just want to sell. He wanted to hand it to someone who would protect what he had built. That someone turned out to be Carter Davison, an Elizabethton native who bought the shop in the spring of 2024. The detail everyone remembers is that Davison was only 19 at the time, already on his second business after selling his first. The story goes that the seller's jaw nearly hit the floor when he learned how young his buyer was. He had been picturing someone closer to thirty.

What happened next tells you who Davison is. He kept the whole team. The same staff who had been baking and serving for years stayed right where they were, which meant the regulars kept seeing familiar faces behind the counter and the bagels kept tasting exactly the way they were supposed to. He treated the inheritance as something to honor first and build on second. Under his ownership the shop has gone on to win Tri-Cities Best Bagels, proof that a careful handoff can carry a good thing forward without breaking it.

That is the quiet magic of a true local staple. It outlasts any one owner because the town keeps choosing it. The Bagel Exchange started as a retired cop's love letter to a New York morning, and somewhere along the way it became something Kingsport claims as its own. Same address, same recipes, same people you've waved to for years, now carried by a young owner who understood that the smartest move was to change almost nothing.

Next time you're downtown, grab an everything bagel with the salmon. You'll be tasting a little bit of history that's still being written.

The Bagel Exchange is at 107 W. Center St., open Wednesday through Saturday for breakfast and lunch.

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Some organizations talk about building community. Holston Habitat for Humanity does it one house at a time. They partner with local families to build and renovate safe, affordable homes right here in our area, with future homeowners putting in sweat equity alongside volunteers. The result is more than a house. It's stability, ownership, and a foothold for families who are ready to build something lasting. If you've ever wanted to give a weekend to something you can see and touch, this is a good place to start. Learn more or get involved at holstonhabitat.org.

A few things worth getting off your couch for:

World Cup Game 2 Watch Party | This Weekend | Downtown Kingsport
Pull up with fellow fans and cheer on the USA together on the big screen. Good crowd, good energy, and a great excuse to catch the match somewhere other than your living room. Details

Twilight Alive featuring KP & The Classics | This Weekend | Downtown Kingsport
The free downtown concert series rolls on with KP & The Classics bringing the live music. Bring a chair, grab a bite nearby, and settle in for an easy evening outside. Details

Meadowview Whiskey Trail | This Weekend | MeadowView Resort
A whiskey tasting experience at MeadowView for those looking for a more spirited night out. A relaxed way to sample and sip your way through the evening. DetailsHOUSE HUNCH

This week's hunch is brand new construction in Granby Place with a view of Bays Mountain you'll want to wake up to. It's a one level home on a full finished basement, 4 bedrooms, 3 full baths, sitting on a large lot.

Step inside to 10' ceilings, oversized doors, and an open concept anchored by a large living room with a propane fireplace and quality solid flooring throughout. The kitchen is the showpiece: custom white shaker cabinetry, quartz countertops, under cabinet lighting, stainless appliances with a propane range and wall oven, a large butler pantry, and an island that overlooks the living room. The primary suite brings dual vanity sinks with a makeup seat, a large shower, and a huge walk in closet with custom shelving. Two more main level bedrooms offer ample closet space, with a second full bath in the hallway. A laundry room off the primary, a 2 car garage with a car charger, and a large deck round out the main floor.

Downstairs you'll find a big room ready to become a movie or game room, an office with a window, and the 4th bedroom with the 3rd bathroom, plus a second deck off the entertainment area. Zoned for Kingsport City Schools and convenient to Stone Drive and the interstate. Owner/agent. All information deemed reliable but subject to buyer verification.

Full listing at sellstateline.com.

What do you think they're asking for 880 Granby Rd

Vote down below

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This newsletter works best when it's a conversation. If you know a story that needs to be told, a person doing something interesting, or a place in Kingsport that matters to you, send it my way. Every documentary, every feature, every post starts with someone saying "you should look into this."

That's it for this week. Thanks for trusting me with your inbox. Let's tell some stories.

Talk soon,

Ryan