Tommy Peters
a street of small shops and stores is that small merchants are uncommon. The five biggest operators have multiple storefronts and collect 80 percent of $34 million-plus in annual sales, according to Elkington’s records.
For example, Memphis certified public accountant Preston Lamm and former Ticketmaster executive Charlie Ryan separately lead a pair of groups that control one of the most vibrant sections — Beale’s north side between Second and Third.
Here, a dozen historic storefronts stretch from Blues City Cafe to Rum Boogie. Minus small carveouts for Miss Polly’s and Strange Cargo, Lamm’s and Ryan’s groups have this side of the street locked up. They collectively pulled in nearly half of all 2012 sales in the district, according to Elkington’s records.
Other big homegrown tenants include B.B. King’s Blues Club and majority owner Tommy Peters; Silky O’Sullivan’s, owned by Joellyn Sullivan; and restaurateur Sandy Robertson’s Alfred’s on Beale and Dyer’s Burgers. Although the five are among the street’s kingpins, B.B. King’s Peters notes the big operators are not big companies.
“With one or two exceptions it’s all mom and pop,” said Peters, 59. Every single person on the street had to come up with their own
Lamm’s chief manager, James A. LoSapio, is a part owner in both Rum Boogie and King’s Palace. A liquor license renewal last April listed other Rum Boogie owners as New York City tax attorney William L. Bricker Jr. and Larry L. Taylor of Travelers Rest, S.C. Taylor, a former Memphian, died in December. Lamm’s son, Carson Lamm, is an officer and board member in The Pig on Beale Inc.
Beale & Second Inc., which owns Blues City Cafe and Club 152, in 1996 acquired leases held by real estate investors Karl Schledwitz and Terry Lynch of Southland Capital Corp., a Memphis venture capital firm.
Beale & Second traces to veteran nightclub operator Gerald “Bud” Chittom, who recruited Ticketmaster’s Ryan and Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau president Kevin Kane to go in with him and Memphis developer Rusty Hyneman, who sold out in 2007.
Beale & Second Inc. recently completed a restructuring with Ryan assuming the controlling role formerly held by Chittom. The businesses on Beale owned by the firm — Blues City Cafe and Band Box, Blues City General Store, Club 152 and Johnny G’s Creole Kitchen — took in $11.3 million in 2012, according to Elkington’s records.
Billy Smith, 19, flips down Beale Street and over some of his friends for a gathering crowd. Neighborhood boys and young men come to Beale and flip for change, often coming away with a good amount of cash.
Ryan, a founder of the Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, owns a music publishing business and is partners with Kane in ownership of the Century Building at Poplar and Century in East Memphis. Beale & Second Inc.’s restructuring came after Club 152 was closed as a public nuisance for eight days last spring and Johnny G’s was investigated last fall for liquor law compliance.
Liquor license applications in January listed Beale & Second owners as Ryan, Memphis CSH Holdings LLC, DownSouth B. St. Holdings LLC, Michele Lunati Wall and Wilbur Hensley. Wall is the daughter of nightclub and strip club operator Ralph Lunati, and Hensley is a longtime club manager and ticket reseller.
Ownership of Beale Street businesses isn’t always clear in records available to the public. Most businesses are set up as corporations that can shield identities of key investors. Public documents, including liquor by the drink permit applications, city beer permits and Tennessee corporate annual reports, provide insight, but not an authoritative list of owners.
Kane said Memphis CSH represents his ownership interest in a blind trust overseen by Mem- phis lawyer Neal Graham. Kane appointed Graham to make decisions related to the company in response to criticism that the investment could pose a conflict of interest for Kane as head of the convention bureau. Beale Street is promoted by the convention bureau, which primarily runs on public funds.
Ryan, 65, would not confirm or deny whether Chittom retains an ownership interest. He said by e-mail that Chittom and Hensley “are no longer employed by ANY of our companies.” A previous liquor license filing showed an ownership breakdown of 60 percent Chittom and 20 percent each Ryan and Kane.
Chittom, 62, said, “I’m almost out of Beale Street.” He added: “If you say anything about me being involved in Beale and Second, I’ll sue you.”
Chittom, who has opened more than 50 clubs in Memphis, was the largest stockholder in another Beale Street nightclub, Jerry Lee Lewis’ Cafe & Honky Tonk, according to a 2013 liquor license application. Partners in Jerry Lee Lewis’ are Riley Paving owner John Riley and his brother Jim Riley, and Ted Hansom, a defense attorney whose clients have included police officers, the Memphis Police Association, Beale & Second Inc., and Chittom. The most recent liquor licenses issued for two other Beale destinations, Handy Park Patrick Gilbert serves up some ice cream for an old-fashioned experience at Schwab’s on Beale Street. The nostalgic, turn- ofthe- century soda fountain serves phosphates, syrups made from scratch, shakes and malts. and Club Handy, are also in Chittom’s name.
B.B. King’s Peters had his own investment firm, investing mainly in aircraft parts, when Elkington recruited him to help open B.B. King’s in 1991. Peters estimated the club has 30 investors but declined to discuss individuals.
A dozen owners for the club are named in a 2013 liquor license renewal. It shows Peters owns 58 percent, followed by Fred E. Carl at 12 percent and Robert B. Nance III at 6 percent. Carl is founder of Viking Range Corp. in Greenwood, Miss. Nance is a former broker with First Tennessee Bank’s investment firm, FTN Financial. Peters recently insisted the list was out of date but didn’t say what changed.
Although Elkington es- timates Beale businesses ran up $34 million in sales last year, he notes the figure is low. B.B. King’s wasn’t included in Elkington’s sales tally because of the lease structure. ReferenceUSA estimated revenues at $4 million a year for the club and an adjoining upscale dining spot, Itta Bena, on the upper floor of 143 Beale.
Some Beale Street tenants are strictly in the business of subleasing property they’ve controlled since 1982. For example, John E. McDowell and John L. Fleskes, officers in Cetacea Sound Inc., are part of Memphis Sound Productions, which started as a recording studio. The two have been Hard Rock Cafe’s landlord at 315 Beale since 1997. They’re working with Elkington to secure a replacement tenant when Hard Rock relocates to the former Lansky building at 126 Beale.
Attorney Jack Magids and three physicians, William A. Potter, Emmel F. Golden and Michael D. Wilons, have seen a series of tenants, including Club Royale, cycle through 349 Beale since 1985. They recently signed a sublease with Sweetie Pie’s, a St. Louis soul food restaurant that’s featured in a “docuseries” on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
For small merchants like Ty Agee, the ownership question isn’t complicated. He’s spent more than half his life working on Beale.
Agee, 45, jumped at a chance to buy Miss Polly’s after opening it in 2007 for his former bosses at Blues City Cafe. The recession made for a rocky start, but he held on.
“It’s been so hard the last few years, because I didn’t know if I’d make it or not,” Agee said. “Hopefully, it’s getting better.”