A. Schwab exterior

Storyboard Memphis is undertaking a multi-year effort to tell a complete history of A. Schwab, Memphis’s longest operating and most famous store. Including both original content and in anthology form, in print and online, with new interviews, stories, anecdotes, collections, and its untapped archives, this project will put the store’s story into context as not just one of the oldest institutions in Memphis, but also an establishment that: is a focal point in Mid-South Jewish immigrant history; witnessed important Civil Rights history and served as an anchor for the Black community; represents an important chapter in the history and evolution of American family-owned business and retail; and played a critical role in the preservation of Historic Beale Street.

From this multimedia project, as we make new discoveries we will be:

  • producing online and in-print articles for the magazine
  • recording a new podcast series, “The A. Schwab Basement Tapes”
  • scanning archival documents for the Memphis Room of the Memphis Public Library
  • compiling oral histories from individuals part of the A. Schwab history
  • producing documentary footage for StoryBoard Memphis on streaming TV
  • and eventually, a history book and a handsome coffee table book on the A. Schwab story.

Visit our Your A. Schwab Story page and share your story!


Please consider a one-time or reoccurring donation to help StoryBoard continue to support this important project:


Sponsoring StoryBoard’s A. Schwab History Project coverage

If you are interested in sponsoring this project, please contact us by email at markf@storyboardmemphis.com.


Findings and Original Stories>>

Check out this page for our findings so far and for our original coverage, interviews and stories


News and Press Releases

There’s more here than we even imagined’: Historic Beale Street store A. Schwab being ‘digitized’

The Commercial Appeal, April 21, 2022

Story by John Beifuss

(Image on right taken by Mark Fleischer)

Photos: Historic A. Schwab’s archives to be digitalized

The Commercial Appeal, April 26, 2022

Photos by Christine Tannous

(Image on right taken by Mark Fleischer)