This record shop deserves better and hopefully their “new management” is that.
Just three months after they reopened their doors, the iconic Ernest Tubb Record Shop has closed once again in downtown Nashville. They tried to rebrand themselves from just being a record shop to a full four-story party bar.
Country music definitely showed their frustrations when the record shop closed back in 2022. It was upsetting to say the least. Then it was announced that the shop would in fact reopen after it was purchased for $18.3 million by a group of people that included a Nashville real estate developer Brad Bars, musician Ilya Toshinskiy, local attorney Grover Collins, and Dale Tubb, the grandson of Ernest Tubb.
That reopening of theirs came with little to no real promotion back in October of 2025, and the newly-revamped record shop opened with some major upgrades too.
They revamped the entire ground floor of the Ernest Tubb Record Shop to feature two bars, each with a stage and live music. They even had plenty of authentic never before seen memorabilia and rightfully so. The record store itself was actually relocated to the second floor, designed to be an authentic recreation of the original record shop that would also host performances in the back just like the old one did. The third floor was a reserved space for private events, and of course the final floor had to be a rooftop bar. I mean you can’t have a bar in Nashville without a rooftop bar.
The VIP grand reopening they did back in November, featured Marty Stuart, Wynonna and Vince Gill to name a few, but it was limited to invited guests only. It was almost like their grand re-opening seemed to go almost unnoticed.
Instead of embracing the real history of Ernest Tubb and classic country music, they missed the point and tried completing with the other artist bars on Broadway. The bars that appeal to drunk bridal parties, tourists and younger fans of pop-leaning country music. That Ernest Tubb Record was basically like a museum on Broadway and it didn’t need that much renovation. It just needed someone who loved the true history of it and maybe some fresh paint.
Now we get this news this week of the shop announcing that it was closed once again and would be undergoing a management change.
“It has been a labor of love to rekindle the legacy of Ernest Tubb Record Shop over the past few years. We’re proud to have been a partner in its restoration and reopening. In the interest of doing what is best for the business, we are stepping down for its day-to-day management.
This means a temporary closure to make way for new management. We’re very grateful for the employees who have worked with us and for the guests we’ve gotten to know along the way. We look forward to the long-term success of the business.”
Hopefully this new management change is the right move this historic record shop needs.