John Rich Bringing ‘Major Star Horsepower’ to Nashville Entertainment District
John Rich is all business.
Besides rocking out in Big & Rich (and his solo music career), the country star has a knack for other endeavors, including his own chain of bars (Redneck Riviera) and whiskey brands Redneck Riviera Whiskey and Granny Rich Reserve, the latter which he formed — and named — after his grandmother.
It seems Rich is always searching for business opportunities outside of music, and at a recent media roundtable at his home in Nashville, the country star noted he just purchased another piece of Nashville.
Rich has already acquired property and launched his Redneck Riviera bar in Nashville's lower Broadway entertainment district, which is a tourist haven and home to a slew of other country celebrity bars that include the names of Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley, Florida Georgia Line, Alan Jackson and more.
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The trend of celebrity bars is occurring during a time when Broadway bar owners are reporting "unprecedented sales figures thanks to the city’s booming leisure tourism industry," according to the Tennessean. So it makes sense for Rich to get in on more of the action.
“We just bought the last two buildings on Broadway that did not have entertainment in them,” Rich reveals. “The FedEx building there at third and Broad(way) and then the old Cotton Eye Joe building at the corner of second and Broad(way)."
"That’s pretty exciting because both those buildings flank Redneck Riviera, so we now have all the buildings on that side of the street for that block and we’re bringing in some pretty cool tenants," he furthers. "I’m right in the middle of it and I said, you know we should bring in things that are complementary to Broadway, not redundant with Broadway. We’ll be telling you who those businesses are pretty soon. One of them I’m really excited about. … Let’s just say some major star horsepower that’s not a singer country. Yeah, it’s gonna be cool.”
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