Since 1876, this family-owned general store and soda fountain has sold confectionery, souvenirs, and hoodoo goods. Everything from cast iron skillets to stick horses to old-fashioned confectionery to ukuleles may be found at A.Schwab. Our products are high-quality, vintage, eccentric, and quirky. It pays homage to the delta, as well as local music, culture, and history.
The only original business on Beale Street in Memphis, Tennessee, is A. Schwab Dry Goods Store. “If you can’t find it at A. Schwab, you’re probably better off without it!” says the family-owned business.
The store, which was founded in 1876 by Abraham Joseph Schwab, an Alsatian Jewish immigrant, is a local tourist attraction with two floors of shopping and a small balcony between the first and second floors that houses the Beale Street Museum, a collection of Beale Street memorabilia as well as several items and records of the Schwab family, which has owned and operated the store throughout its history. The Beale Street Museum, which exhibits a collection of Beale Street memorabilia as well as various items and records of the Schwab family, which has maintained the store throughout its lifespan, was founded in 1876 by Abraham Joseph Schwab, an Alsatian Jewish immigrant.
The oldest store in the Mid-South, A. Schwab, is located in the oldest building on Beale Street. The store began at a different location on Beale Street, then relocated to 163 Beale Street in 1911 and expanded to 165 Beale Street in 1922. Both of these structures were built before 1890. 165 Beale used to be a Piggly Wiggly store before the expansion. The Schwab family sold the company at the end of 2011 after 136 years of ownership.
