Fit Rite, a Greeneville business that started only three years ago marketing medical legwear, has been growing impressively and is now selling its products in 250 supermarket/pharmacies throughout the Southeast.

Fit Rite's products include diabetic socks, anti-embolism hose, sports socks, unisex compression hosiery and women's hosiery.

The company, owned by Cathy Cannon and Debbie McAmis, this month began offering its products in the Knoxville market in about 70 Food City pharmacies.

Fit Rite's products currently are being sold in stores in eight Southeastern states.

The company's products are available locally at the Food City supermarket on Snapps Ferry Road.

Also, Cannon said in an interview this week, Fit Rite sells its products to surgery centers and medical clinics across the United States.

She said the products Fit Rite sells are manufactured by a plant in North Carolina.

Cannon predicted sales locations will double by the end of this year, declaring, "The sky's the limit."

Fit Rite originally sold its products through surgery centers, physicians' offices and hospitals, Cannon said.

Often, the consumer cost for the specialty hosiery was marked up $100 or more by those outlets.

Cannon said the idea of selling directly to customers through supermarkets and pharmacies came to her in 2007 when a customer called to say she needed such hosiery but couldn't afford paying $100 through a physician's clinic.

Now, she said, "I get calls all the time from people who don't have health insurance and from people who do. Regardless, they thank me for making an affordable product."

One of Fit Rite's first big orders was from Bi-Lo, a major supermarket and pharmacy chain, in the fall of 2007.

Fit Rite, whose office is at 241 Baileyton Road in a Tennessee Rehabilitation Center warehouse, is still a small company, with only four full-time employees. But it hires up to 30 part-time workers as needed to complete shipping jobs.

As The Greeneville Sun reported in April 2008, Fit Rite contracts with the Tennessee Rehabilitation Center when extra labor is needed.

The TRC is a state-supported non-profit organization whose people can perform the following services for companies: small assembly, labeling, collating, mailing, packaging, sorting, bagging and quality control to separate sub-standard parts.

Cannon and McAmis praise the work they say is done promptly and efficiently by TRC's workers, who are physically or mentally challenged but have shown they can be productive.

The TRC has said, "We are a United Way agency that can greatly reduce your costs while helping our clients achieve gainful employment."

Cannon said she serves on the TRC's board because she believes in its mission.