Why The Re-Opening of the Ernest Tubb Record Shop Failed

Hinds continues, “Everything they posted was young influencer types drinking and partying saying “Ernest Tubb’s is the place to party!” All with pop country background music. Who are they trying to cater to? Twenty something partiers or classic country fans who like vinyl? They shot themselves in the foot by not picking a lane and thus cancelled out any chance they could by building a brand.”Saving Country Music can confirm this. Despite having been in touch with the ownership group, the Tusk Brothers management group, as well as numerous people involved in the opening, emails and phone calls were not returned about writing a feature, doing interviews, or any other press ahead of the opening, while social media influencer types were favored. Poor Timing, Poor Rollout for the OpeningScott Hinds also says, “Had they consulted anyone, they would have known that November is the worst time to open a new bar on Broadway. Anyone who has worked down there for a few years knows slow season begins at Thanksgiving and continues through late March and it hits you like a brick wall. They opened a week before Thanksgiving and then wondered why no one was coming in, so they of course blamed the staff and bands. We’ve all seen that happen so many times.”Jay Bragg is another Lower Broadway/Ernest Tubb Record Shop performer, and confirms this. “They did open during a really slow season,” he tells Saving Country Music. “This is the slowest season now. I think they were quickly having second thoughts about if traditional country would be sustainable on Lower Broadway.”After having reported for years on the efforts to preserve the Ernest Tubb Record Shop, Saving Country Music was planning to be there for any opening. However, there was no publicity for the soft opening on October 13th, and very little ahead of the grand opening on November 12th when Vince Gill, Marty Stuart, and Wynonna performed. Even signing up for the Record Shop’s newsletter, and following the Record Shop’s social media, there was no indication when these openings would happen.

Scott Hinds says, “Their ribbon cutting ceremony was just sad. Apart from three local news outlets and some employees who had to be there, I was the only person that showed up. There was nobody there! They seriously dropped the ball on advertising it, and pumping up the grand opening to the public should have been their number one priority. And their grand opening with Wynona, Marty Stuart, and Vince Gill was cool, but it was VIP invite only. VIP locals! Locals don’t go to Broadway!”Bad Design and DecorScott Hinds continues, “Every decision on decor and design was essentially half assed. Ernest Tubb was the father of honky tonk. They could have looked at any bar in Nashville whose decor screams ‘honky tonk’ and modeled themselves after that. Instead, they hung a few photos of Ernest up on the walls and bought four chandeliers that looked like they were purchased off Amazon and hung those up. It looked bland with no personality. Hell, the best Ernest Tubb memorabilia was hidden in a secret basement bar that the staff used as an office.”Hinds goes on to say about the performance spaces, “The stage was the strangest stage I’ve ever played on. It was long instead of wide and every musician had to stand in a line behind the other, so anytime we’d call a song, count it off, or signal changes, it became this awkward game of telephone to pass the info back to the drummer. They didn’t even build stairs for the musicians to get on the stage!“They put stages on the second floor, third, and rooftop, but if you can’t concentrate a crowd on the first floor, why would anyone venture higher up. They should have concentrated on making that first floor room look crowded because if a bar looks empty, people will continue walking on by. Your first floor is what sells the bar.”What Hinds got somewhat wrong in his Facebook post was putting the onus on the investor group for many of these decisions, while it appears it was primarily the Tusk Brothers management that made most of the design and promotional decisions for the business. What Hinds wanted to emphasize though was that it wasn’t the “on-the-ground” management or employees that had made the wrong moves. Booking Traditional Country Bands Got The BlameWhat Scott Hinds got right what his prediction that “they of course blamed the staff and bands. We’ve all seen that happen so many times.” Traditional country artist Emily Kidd was hired to book the Ernest Tubb Record Shop’s multiple stages. About two weeks before the Record Shop abruptly closed, she stepped away after the decision came down to stop booking traditional country bands, and start booking more contemporary party bands. Saving Country Music reached out to Emily Kidd for comment. She declined to be interviewed, but provided the following statement: “I was so excited to get the chance to be a part of the reopening of ETRS, and was brought on to bring traditional country and roots music to their Broadway stages. As the direction of the room began to shift, it became clear that my vision and the management team were no longer aligned, so I chose to step away before the shop closed.” What They Got Right and WrongThe idea of expanding the Ernest Tubb Record Shop footprint to four stories, incorporating bars and live music on multiple stages, as well as operating a full kitchen was the only way to keep the building and the business alive. The square feet of 417 Broadway had to be maximized. The problem was how they designed it, how and when they opened and marketed it (or didn’t), and not understanding the demographic the business needed to appeal to. They needed some consultants who were embedded in Nashville’s traditional country scene who could have communicated what has cool, and what wasn’t. As for the Record Shop aspect, it might have felt like an afterthought, but Record Shops take time to fill in properly. Sometimes you have to start with dead stock (meaning undesirable titles) front loaded with new releases until your inventory begins to be seeded properly. Buying out private collections and estates is often necessary. It takes someone active in the vinyl market and time to make a proper record shop inventory.

Opening the business proper even if the record shop wasn’t ready was probably smart, especially after three years of delays. But if more effort had been put in the record shop aspect of the Ernest Tubb Record Shop, it could have been an asset to the business as opposed to a burden with numerous photos circulating online of virtually empty bins. Whenever the issue of the Ernest Tubb Record Shop comes up, someone invariably says, “Nobody buys records anymore!” But statistically that’s not the case. Consumers purchased 46-48 million records in 2025 to the tune of $2.4 billion in revenue—the highest sales since the 1980’s. Furthermore, projections for vinyl sales are for them to continue to increase in the coming years. Another criticism of the Ernest Tubb Record Shop concept was that nobody wants to hear traditional country on Lower Broadway. This is also an incorrect assessment with the continued success and expansion of Robert’s Western World right across the street from the Record Shop, and the resurgence of interest in traditional country thanks to artists like Zach Top. But the question is if the new ownership group of the Ernest Tubb Record Shop will give the concept a second chance. After spending so much money on a redesign, three years of sitting on an unopened property, will they have the appetite to hand it over to another management group or lessee, or simply sell it to a celebrity? Some structural changes might be necessary to set the stages up better, and to make the business more inviting to the tremendous foot traffic on Lower Broadway. But if the Ernest Tubb Record Shop is to move forward, it’s going to need a visionary or a group of them that understand Lower Broadway, traditional country, vinyl, and the challenges and opportunities they pose in the modern music climate in Nashville. Another common criticism you hear is that nobody knows who Ernest Tubb is anymore. But nobody really knows who Colonel Sanders was either until he became part of American iconography. At one point, there were multiple Ernest Tubb Record Shops across the United States, and two locations in Nashville alone. It was the implosion of the vinyl market in the ’90s thanks to CDs and eventually the MP3 that doomed the concept. But now vinyl is back, and so is traditional country. There might not be a more opportune time for a team of savvy, smart, and passionate individuals to take the Ernest Tubb Record Shop concept, and make it iconic once again. Otherwise, one of the most important pieces of living country music history that is the entire reason Lower Broadway is the destination and entertainment corridor that it is could be gone for good. “That’s specifically why they asked The Royal Hounds to play the grand opening,” Scott Hinds tells Saving Country Music. “They knew that I could stand on stage and I could teach about Ernest Tubb. Literally my job is to take people around Nashville and teach them about country music history. So I was very proud to be a part of that story in some capacity. But man, it’s just such a shame.”Jason Aldean and Morgan Wallen might have the hot bars on Lower Broadway right now. But the legacy of Ernest Tubb and traditional country music is forever. It’s what everything Lower Broadway and country music was built from. Take that foundation away, and you have no Jason Aldean or Morgan Wallen, or Lower Broadway as an entertainment destination. That is why the continuation and preservation of the Ernest Tubb Record Shop should be an imperative. – – – – – – – –

Brad Bars, Dale Tubb, Emily Kidd, Ernest Tubb Record Shop, Hatch Show Print, Ilya Toshinskiy, Jay Bragg, Marty Stuart, Midnite Jamboree, Scott Hinds, The Royal Hounds, Tusk Brothers, Vince Gill, Wynonna

The reason I mentioned the example of Hatch Show Print being taken over and preserved by the Country Music Hall of Fame is because that is an option for what to do with the Ernest Tubb Record Shop. To me, that’s still a Plan B or C option, but it is one to consider. Another example is RCA Studio B. Both the studio and Hatch Show Print were for profit businesses that were then donated to a non-profit for preservation. You could even rename the Hall of Fame gift store the “Ernest Tubb Record Shop,” put the sign there, etc. There’s tons of vinyl there already, and it’s not so far from Lower Broadway, you could even do the Midnite Jamboree there.

I do think the ETRS can be successful where it is. But it’s going to take someone with time, passion, and vision to do it.

Wife and I were in Nashville in mid November (slow time from article) and can say that Robert’s and Tootsies had lines and were so packed it wasn’t all that comfortable to stay. My point, there is demand for traditional country music on Broadway. Like I said in the previous article, we probably spent time in 2/3 of the places and ETRS was one of the places we didn’t go in simply because it didn’t draw us in in any way.

Even prior to the changes I always felt the shop could offer so much more to the public. It was quite a limited selection on vinyl as well as cds. I had this fantasy that it would carry a lot more memorabilia for display and possible purchase of old records/vintage items. I was left quite underwhelmed and disappointed of the shopping experience especially having the history of the shop on my mind as I walked around the shop. Vinyl and cd sales continue to increase as young folks continue to have a desire for physical ownership of music. I’m hoping someone sooner than later can take the rich history of the shop and fully lean into offering a true music lovers experience.

The Ernest Tubb Record Shop was ailing for a decade before all of the most recent developments. Aside from the era where Terry Tyson was managing it, it was neglected and not being managed up to potential. This might also be one reason people pass by, and redesign or not, don’t go in. Or, they don’t even know there’s a bar, food, etc. there. That is why public awareness was so imperative about this. Big ball dropped.

When I was 18 I made my first trip to Nashville. I stayed with a friend about 10 miles outside of the city and rode my bike down to Broadway. I stopped at ET’s and there were two older ladies minding the shop. We chatted for awhile about nothing in particular. The selection of vinyl and CDs was great. There was no bar and no band. I liked it that way and that’s the memory I’ll hold in my mind.

Even after the inventory dramatically fell off, the workers the Ernest Tubb Record Shop had really knew their stuff. They were music experts, and really took pride in their work. They also shipped worldwide, which made it a global business. I talked to some of these long-time employees after JesseLee Jones of Robert’s Western World purchased the Record Shop, and many were let go. Trying to rekindle that expertise and curation culture into the reopened store might be wise. Record stores aren’t just retail establishments. They’re music communities where people go to learn and be informed.

There are older photos of Nashville that show previous additional locations for Ernest Tubb record shops. The Variety record shop owner in Columbia TN told me that the location used to be a Ernest Tubb record shop location but they won’t recognize it.

They should relocate the record shop and continue to integrate live music at a location outside of Broadway where the parking is free and it doesn’t take an hour to leave.

This was the whole concept behind opening the Music Valley location near the Grand Ole Opry, including building the building around Ernest’s old green bus (which is still there), and putting the adjacent Texas Troubadour Theater where you could have bigger performances for the Midnite Jamboree. Unfortunately though, with the implosion of physical media in the 2010’s, the place went unloved, and eventually, mismanaged and under-stocked. The parking was incredible though. Charley Crockett even mentions that parking lot in one of his recent songs.

Charley shot most of his Music City USA video inside and close to the record shop in 2021. You get a pretty cool look at the inside of the place on the ground floor and Printers Alley outside. They still had records in bins and performer’s costumes hanging on the walls.

I do know that Brad Bars was involved with the bankruptcy/foreclosure for the Ritz Carlton Development. I’m guessing this is going down the same path. Those big honky tonks can command the $30,000,000+ this property being so small is maybe worth $15-20,000,000. Some poor investors are about to get a very nice tax deduction for the massive loss coming.

Yes. The article mentions an 18mil investment. I think the business potential is there but you gotta fill the place up fairly often to sell enough drinks, food, merch to put a dent in that steep an investment. New owners need a much better plan obviously. A manager willing to commit to the long haul and put the promotion and effort into it. Or go belly up. Good article and explanation.

Btw: Acme Feed and Seed seems to do alright balancing everything out with multiple stages, food, merch, and some traditional bands. They bring in a wide variety of people, not just bachelorettes.

One of my all-time favorite stories happened in ETRS. I’m a huge country music fan and went to college in Nashville, and a few years after college, went back for a visit with one of my best friends from back home. He’s not a country fan, more classic rock and 90s alternative, but I was playing tour guide and figured we should pop into the shop.

Thumbing through the vinyls, all of a sudden he hollers over to me, completely earnest, “check it how – how cool is this, this guy’s last name is HAGGARD!”

Every other person in the shop whipped their head around so fast to stare at him, I wouldn’t be shocked if more than one of them pulled a muscle in their neck.

We all wish ETs could still exist in that location. Sadly, David the previous owner, was notoriously cheap and though he had a paid off building, which is a HUGE advantage, he lacked the energy and passion to really keep or evolve that business. Now we have an 18 mil investment. Can’t run a record shop on that crushing amount of debt. You need bodies in that place and fast. You need excitement, promotion and everything else Scott noted. I was thinking of another place on Broadway besides Roberts that seems to be doing okay, and thats Acme Feed and Seed. They pack people in, there is a variety of live music for various tastes including some old timey country. Cowpokes held a weekly residence there for years. Wild Bill plays there regularly. They have decent food, they sell merch. It attracts the gamut of ages and demographics. Clearly their business model is working. No it’s not as great as Roberts in amazing music, but it aint bad imo. Maybe there is hope for an ETs, but they gotta be willing to hustle.

Acme Feed & Seed is another good location on Lower Broadway, and like you said, make it work catering to traditional country, and selling food and drink. The only downside is you basically have to walk the length of Lower Broadway to get there, which can be … interesting.

Though $18 million sounds like an eye-popping number, when it was first announced, the story around real estate was that it was a deal for that property, meaning it could have been much more, and the sellers probably cut a deal in hopes of preserving the original business.

That Cousin Kenny Vaughn show, with Marty and His Fabulous Superlatives as his backing band, filmed on the Ernest Tubb Record Shop stage (still available on YouTube) is fucking fire.🔥

These words came from a producer years ago. It’s all about the $$$$. Even if it was properly managed, who knows if the ETR venue is sustainable. Sure, Roberts does well, so does Tootsies, etc., but they’ve been consistent for decades. Sadly, most people want the commercial bars.

I remember when Broadway was a blast, but over the last twenty years it turned into an overpriced, over the top, no go zone for me.

…some of these classic and historically somewhat relevant nashville locations (to country music) would be cases for a dedicated, well-funded heritage foundation. fact is however, all the wealthy country stars of today and yesterday can’t really be bothered in this case. the bar star just shines brighter than a record shop sign in a world that is streaming. sign of the times, i guess. running a living small business is inherently more demanding than stuffing a place with all kinds of memorabilia and exhibitions of more or less significance. that burger dish up there actually makes you wanna throw up by the looks of it and not exactly calling the waiter.

The wealthy country stars of today can’t even be bothered to show up at the Opry (See Mr. Fayfare’s blog for that…).

Personally, I think they should have gone a completely different route. They should have came back as a nonprofit, use time after it closed to court donors and apply for grants. While that is happening, hire an Executive Director to oversee the reopening and create a business model that opened the floors in phases. I’ve seen many historic music and film venues across the country use a 501c3 model to great success, and with the historic importance of ETRS, I think they would would be plenty of donors who can make up an effective board of directors to help steer the ship.

If not that route, then talking to Hall of Fame about making the ETRS about being a program as part of of the museum.

Not only is the ET’s on Broadway historic, I think the one on Music Valley Drive was pretty awesome too. I was in Nashville in the mid 90’s and 2000’s, and I loved both stores. I think to make it really work, 3 or 4 country music legends should buy it and run it. The singers/songwriters know the best for the store and how to go about running it. This is my opinion. I mean, I heard Dolly Parton has her own storefront. The stars should take the reins of this place and run with it.

Real shame as I was planning to visit Nashville for the first time this year and this was a bucket list. Makes me regret not going sooner as this place represents a big part in country music history.

Ryman
Country Music Hall of Fame
Roberts Western World
Tootsies Orchid Lounge
These are must do for first time.

Bonus places:
Music City Bar and Grill
Nashville Palace
Grand Ole Opry
Skinny Dennis
Dees Country Cocktail Lounge
None of these places on the bonus list are on Broadway. They are across town and thus less crowded.
You could also look up Scott Hinds from The Royal Hounds. He gives amazing Nashville music tours.

It’s a tragedy that this music retail store can’t be kept open; its still being in existence makes me wish that Sam The Record Man could’ve been kept open here in Toronto instead of closing like it did in 2008. I hope that a way to keep this place open cn be found.

it’s important to note that the owners MADE the tusk brothers remove themselves. they didn’t want to. we knew we opened during slow season, we knew we had a long road ahead before spring came that we would have to survive. but we all believed in the magic of that place and we all worked there for pennies because we wanted to see it through and see a historic place come back to life.

the ownership discarded our entire staff with zero notice and zero explanation. with no regard for all the hard work we had done. heartless move.

trust me when I say that all of the employees, including the hospitality management group (tusk brothers) wanted this business to thrive, but ownership didn’t allow us the necessary time to see the vision through. many people claim to know more than they do about the situation. when they actually don’t know jack shit about who called the shots and who closed the doors.

ownership shot themselves in the foot and left an entire staff of dedicated human beings unemployed, with zero communication, zero explaination.

bad people — those owners aren’t in that business for ET’s legacy, because if they were they wouldn’t have closed up shop so soon. they only care about money and they are the people to blame for many of the things you mentioned.

-sincerely a heartbroken employee who lost a job that they loved so much, due to greed and shady ownership decisions.

I feel like they bought this with the “We will save it mantra!”
Seeing that they threw in the towel after a quiet November open a few months later…… maybe this was the plan all along and the Tusk Brothers and staff were sadly just a ploy.
Now they can sell it and say we tried, it just didn’t work but maybe someone else can buy it for $30,000,000. They went super cheap on the renovation/decor another sign this was the plan all along.

Source: savingcountrymusic.com