Business
Crunchy Mama Box changes business models
January 7, 2026 by Tammy Cheek
Farragut business owner Wanda Malhotra is changing the business model for Crunchy Mama Box.
She announced the change to board members of Shop Farragut/Farragut Business Alliance during its meeting in Farragut Community Center Wednesday, Dec. 10.
In a subsequent interview, Malhotra, a member of the Shop Farragut board, said, “We are moving away from
being a traditional e-commerce retailer — selling physical products from various brands — to focusing on the most successful side of our business, our Global Wellness Media and Certification Platform.
She originally launched Crunchy Mama Box as a marketplace to find health-related businesses.
“We aren’t eliminating the marketplace model entirely,” said Malhotra, founder of the CMB certification program and Crunchy Mama Box. “Instead, we are licensing it internationally, starting with a major partnership in Brazil.
“This allows our U.S. team to focus on what we do best: vetting brands and creating educational content,” she said. “Our CMB Certification (Clean, Mindful, Balanced) is now available to businesses in all sectors, ensuring they meet the highest standards of sustainability and ethics.”
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January 7, 2026 by Tammy Cheek
Patrons of The Shrimp Dock in Farragut last week found a note taped to the locked door.
“After many wonderful years, we have made the difficult decision to close our doors,” the note stated. “We are incredibly grateful for your loyal support and all the memories we’ve shared,” it continued. “Thank you for being part of our journey. Please visit one of our other two locations: 5210 Kingston Pike [Bearden] and 321 S. Calderwood St. [Alcoa].”
“Our lease ended on [Wednesday], Dec. 31, and it was the slowest of the three locations,” The Shrimp Dock district manager Lucia Keen said. “We are looking for another third location in Knox County, but we have not found that yet.
“It was a hard decision,” Keen said about closing the store. “We had extended the lease one time already, and the landlord just needed something that was more permanent, a longer lease, than what we wanted to do at that location with our sales.
“He [the landlord] needed security, and it just didn’t make sense for us,” she added.
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January 7, 2026 by
Knox County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Matt Schlosshan recently successfully completed a six-week certification course at the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Hazardous Devices School, located at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama. This elite training program represents the gold standard for public safety bomb technicians across the United States —the only facility authorized to provide this certification. Schlosshan underwent preparation for more than 12 months and has now earned his certification as a highly skilled bomb technician, according to a KCSO press release.
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