A country music institution is back open for business.
It’s been a long road for the historic Ernest Tubb Record Shop, the historic store that opened at 417 Broadway in downtown Nashville all the way back in 1951.
Back in 2022, the legendary record shop announced that it would be closing its doors after both the building and the business would be sold to new owners. But there was immediate outcry from country music fans upset about the demise of yet another iconic piece of country music history, and the nephew of Ernest Tubb launched a petition to save the 72-year old record shop.
Then in 2023, it was reported that the building and the business were bought for $18.3 million by a group that includes Nashville real estate developer Brad Bars, musician Ilya Toshinskiy, local attorney Grover Collins, and Dale Tubb, grandson of Ernest Tubb.
In a statement at the time, Bars confirmed that the legendary record shop would remain open and the building, which has housed Ernest Tubb’s Record Shop for over 51 years, would be receiving major renovations. But since then, we haven’t really heard a ton about what was going on with the building – other than the iconic sign being taken down, though the new owners assured concerned fans that it was only temporary during renovations and would be going back up after being restored.
Well earlier this year, it was confirmed that the record shop would indeed reopening soon, with the new project being overseen by Tusk Brothers, a management company owned by brothers Jamie and Bryan Kenney, as well as Toshinsky and Dale Tubb.
And this week, the Ernest Tubb Record Shop finally reopened its doors – complete with the original sign, fully restored in all its glory, hanging back in front of the historic building.
The ground floor of the revamped Ernest Tubb Record Shop now features two bars, each with a stage and live music, and of course plenty of authentic and never-before-seen memorabilia.
The record store itself, meanwhile, is located on the second floor, designed to be an authentic recreation of the original record shop that will also host performances in the back just like the old one. The third floor will be a reserved space for private events, but the final floor will be a rooftop bar – because you can’t have a bar in Nashville these days without a rooftop bar.
The Ernest Tubb Record Shop officially reopened on October 13, though the rooftop bar is expected to open in the near future.
Check it out:
@nashvillexp Ernest Tubb Record Shop’s doors are once again open on Broadway! 👏👏 Originally established in 1951, the newly renovated record store now includes: 🍻 Three bars on 1st and 2nd floors 🎤 Live music on multiple stages 🌭 Full menu feat. burgers, hotdogs, chili cheese fries, snacks and more 🛍️ Vinyl and merch for purchase on 2nd floor ⬆️ New rooftop opening later this week 📍 417 Broadway #Nashville #615 #ErnestTubb #BroadwayNashville ♬ original sound – Nashville Experience
And let us know in the comments what you think about the changes…because I’d be VERY interested to hear how people feel about the new record shop.
