South Tampa's Carroll's Corner Market closes its doors, citing rising rent prices

A beloved sandwich shop in South Tampa – famously known for its Cuban sandwiches – has closed for good. Carroll's Corner Market has been around for years, but the owner says rising rent costs have left them no choice but to shut down.

Nina Carroll's customers are family. She knows them all by name and their order – not to mention their family's work life and everything in between.

"I'm going to give it to you as a large, but only charge you for a small. How's that?" Carroll can be heard asking one of her many regulars.

Sunday, they were forced to say their goodbyes.

Photo: Carroll speaking on the phone

"They mean a lot to me. I've known them for years," Carroll said.

She's been in the food and beverage business since she was 15, starting off as a waitress at a truck stop. She worked at several country clubs over the course of 25 years, and worked her way up the ladder. She also trained underneath chefs to become a sous chef. For the last three years, she's been running Carroll's Corner Market on West Cherokee Avenue in South Tampa.

The sandwich shop has been around for decades under different names and different owners. When the last owner went out of business she stepped in and brought it back to life.

"I'm a hands-on owner, and I'm at this register every day from open to close," Carroll said.

Photo: Carroll's Corner Market employee making sandwiches

Carroll's Corner Market employee making sandwiches

They're most known for their Cubans sandwiches, which are so popular customers come from out-of-state and some even have Carroll ship them in a cooler across the country at their request. Despite having no shortage of customers she says rising costs, including a $1,500 monthly rent increase have made it impossible to carry on.

"Only reason I haven't left yet is because of staff because I wanted to keep them going. I don't make any money because all my money goes back into the building," Carroll said.

Because of how her lease is set up she says she's forced to foot the bill for building repairs, not the landlord. It's something she says she just can't afford.

"They're sad they want to know where I'm going. Right now, I just need to take a breather and get out of debt a little bit and find another place," Carroll said.

Going forward, she's going to take a few months to rest but plans to no doubt come back possibly again as a brick-and-mortar or a food truck. Either way, her customers will be waiting.

"I met a lot of good customers that turned out to be very dear friends and good staff. And I think I've done some quite consistent sandwiches and I hope to be able to do it again real soon," Carroll said.