Acme Feed & Seed

JR Whitemore built the original three-story Acme building at 101 Broadway in 1890. In our 140 year history the building has seen many changes in the Nashville business community. The first tenants of 101 Broadway were the Cummins brothers’ grocery store, one of the brothers who later headed an investment group that built Nashville’s first reinforced concrete building, which still bears the name Cummins Station. Other tenants include Southern Soda Works, Continental Baking Powder Co., Ford Flour Co., D. Byrd & Co., Bearden Buggy, Sherman Transfer Co., Chadwell Transfer and Storage Co., and Tennessee Wholesale Drug Co. Chadwell Transfer and Storage Co.

Nashville businessman Currey L. Turner moved his feed store, Acme Feed & Hatchery, into the building in 1943 and changed the name to Acme Farm Supply in 1965. Acme was known for its promotions, including the annual “Purina Jamborees” featuring Purina pigs, Ike and Mike, who were given away as door prizes. Acme also owned a famous pet calf named Beautena that would appear on stage at the Grand Ole Opry during commercials. These promotions gave way to free “dog dipping” (a treatment for fleas) on Saturdays, which provided many memorable moments for families across middle Tennessee, including Acme Feed & Seed proprietor Tom Morales.

The Farm Supply store closed their doors after 56 years at 101 Broadway. The building sat mostly vacant until Tom Morales and his partners leased the property in 2014 to open Acme Feed & Seed.