Author: Zach R.

AutoZone is not just a name associated with a corporate office building downtown or a store for automotive parts and accessories. It is also the name associated with arguably one of the best Minor League Baseball stadiums in the country.

AutoZone Park has been a staple in Memphis sports since its opening in April of 2000. Its construction cost more than any other minor league stadium ever built. While attending an event at the park, baseball fans feel as if they are in a Major League Baseball stadium. AutoZone Park is complete with a Club Level, a spectacular videoboard (the largest of all the minor league stadiums), a press box, family-friendly lawn seating, and an air-conditioned concourse. In 2009, Baseball America titled AutoZone Park the Top Minor League Ballpark!

While the stadium itself is owned by the City of Memphis, its home team, the Memphis Redbirds, is partially owned by both Peter B. Freund and its Major League Baseball affiliate, the St. Louis Cardinals. As a repeat winner in the Pacific Coast League Championship and 2018 winner in the Triple-A National Championship Game, the Memphis Redbirds continue to make their Memphis fans proud.

Fun Fact: The Memphis Redbirds previously played at Tim McCarver Stadium.

AutoZone Park has held numerous special events. Major League Baseball hosted both, the inaugural and the second, annual Civil Rights games there in 2007 and 2008. Major league teams such as the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cleveland Indians, the Chicago White Sox, and the New York Mets have played in this exhibition game.

The stadium offers a variety of places to sit, and each option features its own unique view of the game.

One popular option is The Bluffs. The Bluffs is one of the least expensive ticket options in the park, but that doesn’t mean that it offers anything less than the other choices. It has traditional picnic style seating that is loved by families and parents alike as it gives kids a wide area to explore during the game. It is also loved for being a more casual way to enjoy one of the fantastic games you can see there. You can’t bring chairs onto the bluff though, so guests often bring blankets in order to fully enjoy all that The Bluffs has to offer.

Another option is The Family Leisure Picnic Pavilion. Most often, this is selected by companies and schools across the city to best accommodate their events. They frequently have stadium vendors cater food and eat at one of the many picnic tables while still having a great view of the game. This space can hold up to 500 people so it is plenty big to host parties. When this space is deemed too large, patrons often choose one of the two party decks, which can each hold up to 175 eager baseball fans.

Plenty of notable companies in the Memphis area also purchase one of the 48 suites that overlook the park from the Club Level. If lucky enough to sit in one of the 700 seats that the club level has, fans enjoy some of the best accommodations in the park.

In total, the park can hold 10,000 baseball fans in one of the most comfortable environments available in Minor League Baseball.

There are plenty other unique aspects to this park. One of those is the revitalized Miracle-Gro Rooftop Garden. Once fully functional, the garden will provide food and herbs to be used in the various concession stands that are frequent across the park. It will also provide a fun and educational space for children across the Memphis area to learn about gardening, nutrition and healthy habits.

As of the beginning of 2019, AutoZone Park isn’t just for baseball. The Memphis 901 FC professional soccer team now also calls this stadium home. This new team will continue to keep AutoZone Park among the elite in Memphis sports!

In a world of big box stores, it’s refreshing to see family-owned businesses booming. It seems fairly often we hear another one has sold out or closed down. What does this mean for the family and future generations that once dreamed of taking over or becoming part of the family business? Are they simply out of luck and forced to do something else? In Memphis, one family has proven this not to be the case. First cousins, Chris Canale Jr. and Alex Canale, reopened their family business after it had been closed down.

Photo from Old Dominick

In 1859, a sixteen-year-old Italian immigrant named Domenico Canale landed in New Orleans and made his way up to Memphis, Tennessee. He had family that had left Italy for Memphis fifteen years earlier. His plan was to join them and work in the family’s wholesale grocery business, and he did just that for seven years. During that time, he worked for his Uncle, Abraham Vaccaro, running a fruit cart on the streets. However, in 1866, Domenico branched out and opened his own wholesale food company and branded it as D. Canale & Co. He acquired space and ran his business out of a warehouse at 8 Madison St. One of the many products that he offered was his own label of whiskey, Old Dominick. Over the coming years Domenico decided to take this even further, and in 1880 he introduced the world to the first Dominick Toddy. This concoction consisted of his own whiskey blended with underlying hints of various fruits.

Fun Fact: The label for the Dominick Toddy introduced the same rooster that is now an integral part of the Old Dominick brand.

Photo from Old Dominick

Domenico Canale died in Memphis in 1919, just 3 days before prohibition was ratified. During prohibition, his son, John Dominick Canale, focused the business on food operations and D. Canale & Co. became one of the largest grocery distributors in the region. When prohibition was repealed in 1933, the business owned the largest refrigerated warehouse in the area, making them a prime candidate for beer distribution. Anheuser-Busch selected D. Canale & Co. to be their exclusive distributor in the Memphis area.

Fast forwarding to 1965, John D. Canale Jr took the reins and became the third generation to run the company. In 1982, he strategically decided to separate the food operations from the beverage operations, and he formed D. Canale Food Services, Inc. and D. Canale Beverages, Inc. The two businesses ran separately for several years. The family decided to sell the food services side of the business in 1999. Eleven years later in 2010, the family sold the beverage side of the business.

It was only a few short years later in 2013 that cousins, Chris and Alex, ran across an unopened bottle of Old Dominick Toddy and decided to reopen the family distillery. They began planning right away. Without a recipe, they were forced to re-engineer the drink from the bottle they had. They also knew they wanted to open up in the heart of downtown just like their great great grandfather had 147 years earlier, and they did. In 2016, Chris and Alex opened shop, and Old Dominick Distillery became the first to legally distill whiskey in Memphis since prohibition.

Photo from Old Dominick

What a story! As it proudly boasts on its website, this family business survived two world wars, multiple Yellow Fever epidemics and the Great Depression. And it saw five generations of the Canale family.

Today, 139 years after Domenico Canale created it, Memphians can still find their Dominick Toddy on Front Street.

Memphis is home to four Fortune-ranked companies that collectively employ 490,026 people. We also have several other local companies that make an impact in our community.

Over the past 62 years, Orion Federal Credit Union has woven its way into the fabric of Memphis, Tennessee. Orion was founded in 1957 as the Memphis Area Teachers Credit Union (MATCU). At the time, one had to be an educator to become a member. Over the years, the organization evolved to serve the greater Memphis community, and this requirement was removed. Today, Orion FCU is one of the largest credit unions in the Memphis area and has upwards of 70,000 members and $800 million in assets. Members are offered a full assortment of banking services including both savings and checking accounts as well as home, auto, commercial, and personal loans.

When did the Memphis Area Teachers Credit Union become Orion? In 2010, MATCU members voted to become federally chartered, which would shift its regulatory body from the state to the federal government. Along with this change, MATCU, changed its name in June 2011 to Orion Federal Credit Union. The new name was chosen after the famous constellation. The organization envied the concept that many individual components could come together to form one larger entity. Of course, the new name also helped clarify that one did not have to be a teacher to join any more, and that all people were eligible to become members.

How is Orion serving the community today outside of banking? It seems abundantly clear that Orion is proud to be in Memphis. With less than 300 employees, Orion manages to donate both financial support and several hundreds of volunteer hours to the community each year. Employees are encouraged to participate in Orion Gives Back, a program with the sole intent to pair employees with volunteer opportunities in Memphis. Through this program, employees have volunteered with several local organizations including the Memphis Food Bank, the Ronald McDonald House during their annual telethon, and Shelby County Schools. Each branch is actually paired with a different school in Memphis at which it’s employees volunteer. They might read to a class, judge an academic competition, or help clean up at the end of the year. Orion is also currently, or has been, a sponsor of the Movies at the Orpheum, Starry Nights, the Orion Free Music Concert Series at the Levitt Shell, 901Fest, the Orion 5k (formerly the Gibson Guitar 5k), and Indie Memphis.

What else does the universe have in store for Orion? This month, in June 2019, Orion FCU is moving its headquarters to a new location in downtown Memphis. Orion continues to embrace Memphis culture as 150 administrative employees are moving to the iconic Memphis Wonder Bread building, which had been deserted since 2013. So far, the Wonder Bread sign has remained atop the building to nostalgically hallmark the building’s history.

Hopefully, the future will bring another 62 years for Orion FCU in which they will continue to employ citizens of the mid-south and contribute to the thriving community in Memphis.

Photo by Creation Studios

It is commonly accepted that Memphis is famous for its music, soul, as well as BBQ. However, did you know that Memphis is famous for being a prime location for filming movies?

Known in the movie business for its diverse scenery options – the Mississippi River, the soul of Beale Street, the hustle and bustle of the inner city, the forestry of Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park – Memphis has been chosen time after time for the perfect place to film.

The Memphis & Shelby County Film and Television Commission is charged with making sure that filming crews continue to be drawn to Memphis and find success when they do.

How many of these movies did you know were filmed in Memphis?

Cast Away

While most of the 2000 movie Cast Away, featuring Tom Hanks, was filmed on one of the Fiji Islands, pieces of it were filmed at the FedEx facilities in Memphis. With oversight from the FedEx marketing teams, the brand was a pivotal aspect of the film, and CEO Fred Smith even made an appearance on camera.

Walk The Line

Chronicling the tale of country music legend Johnny Cash, Walk The Line was released in 2005. This film featured scenes in several iconic Memphis locations including Sun Studios, The Orpheum Theatre, The Pipkin Building at the Memphis Fairgrounds, and parts of the South Main district.

The Firm

Arguably, one of the most well-known films shot in Memphis, Tom Cruise starred in this 1993 legal thriller showcasing several Memphis landmarks. Throughout The Firm, you don’t have to look hard to recognize The Peabody Hotel, Mud Island, The Cotton Exchange Building, Elmwood Cemetery, or the Union Planters Building.

Fun Fact: Despite popular belief, the longtime Union Planters Building in downtown Memphis (100 N Main Street branded with UP at the top ) was not their official headquarters. Their headquarters was actually in East Memphis.

21 Grams

In the 2003 film 21 Grams, there is no definitive reference to being in Memphis. However, many that have lived in the Memphis area, can recognize Central Gardens, Ernestine and Hazels, the downtown YMCA and even the Bartlett Recreation Center. Those die-hard, lifelong Memphians might even note seeing Anderton’s restaurant or the North End (now Westy’s).

The People vs. Larry Flynt

While there is less concrete data out there about the specific locations at which this movie was filmed, it is widely accepted parts of the movie were recorded in Memphis, TN. In this 1996 film, Woody Harrelson portrays Larry Flynt, the founder of Hustler on his journey to defend his right to free speech.

Great Balls of Fire

The 1989 biographical movie, Great Balls of Fire, tells the story of Jerry Lee Lewis. As one of the pioneers of rock and roll, Sun Studio was a must for him on his rise to fame, and it was a must for the movie too. Of course, as another icon of the era, Graceland made the cut too.

Hustle and Flow

Ten years before Empire hit TV, Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson came to Memphis to record the 2005 film, Hustle and Flow. This movie, both set and recorded in Memphis, even launched, Memphis-native, Craig Brewer’s professional career as a movie writer and director. Brewer has now written and directed several episodes for Empire.

The Client

Another John Grisham legal thriller, The Client was largely filmed in Memphis before being released in 1994. The Med is used as the set of, well, a hospital except it is given an “Elvis Presley Wing” for the movie. Reggie Love is a lawyer whose offices are run out of The Sterick Building, and the on-screen courthouse is in fact the Memphis Courthouse. Of course, as with so many other Memphis movies, the crew couldn’t wrap up until they recorded at the Arcade Restaurant.

Mystery Train

The 1989 film, Mystery Train, recounts three stories that converge in Downtown Memphis at the Arcade Hotel. The cast filmed at several iconic locations including the Arcade Restaurant, Sun Studios, A. Schwab’s, and both Main Street and Beale Street.

Forty Shades of Blue

Directed by Memphis native Ira Sachs, this 2005 film is also set and recorded in Memphis. When Sachs set out with the crew to record a scene in an abandoned part of town that still had some beauty and appeal to it, he knew right away to go to Memphis’ Broad Avenue. That said, the cast also recorded at Ardent Studios, The Peabody Hotel, and multiple East Memphis homes.

4 Fortune Ranked Companies
23rd Largest City (by population, 2010)
#1 Charitable City in the U.S.
#1 Largest Urban Park in the U.S.
#1 US Cargo Airport in the U.S. (2015)
$ 3.5 Billion in Tourism Revenue (2017)
Home of Elvis, Most #1 Hit Singles by a Solo Artist

Wow! Memphis is 200 years old today. It was only a short two hundred years ago that Memphis was established right here on the bluffs of the Mississippi River.

I often hope that in my lifetime I can make a mark on the world around me. I hope to fulfill my dreams and to make an impact on my life, the life of my family and friends, and if I am lucky, the world around me.

In Memphis’ short history, it has definitely made an impact. People who have lived here, whether it was home or just a stop on their journey, have all demonstrated the power of Memphis. In sports, music, business and so much more, Memphis has risen to the top of every category at some point of the past two centuries.

Memphis has made it through several bad times in our history too. We made it through a Civil War, an outbreak of Yellow Fever, a tragedy of the Civil Rights Movement, and several others.

Of course, Memphians have become known for their grit and grind mentality. They work hard and play hard. I am proud to be a Memphian and share that title with so many heroes of their times.

Aretha Franklin
B.B. King
Cybill Shepherd
Danny Thomas
Elvis Presley
Johnny Cash
Justin Timberlake
Kemmons Wilson
Michael Oher
Morgan Freeman
W.C. Handy

Memphis. So many things pop into my head when I hear the word Memphis.

Home. Music. Food. Community. The “M” bridge. The Pyramid. Egypt?

Why is our city named Memphis? Our founders – James Winchester, John Overton, and Andrew Jackson – named our city after Memphis, Egypt. While Memphis, TN had some similar features two hundred years ago, this namesake is something that Memphians have embraced over the past two centuries, and it shows. Our Memphis of today features several icons of Egyptian influence.

The Mississippi River

Just as the ancient Egyptians decided to establish their Memphis on the mouth of the Nile, our founders chose to create our city on the great Mississippi. 

Memphis, Egypt was established over 5000 years ago. It became a thriving success and was the long-time capital of Ancient Egypt. Along the Nile, the land was prime for both farming and trade. Those that lived there prospered.

Similarly, our founders strategically chose to found our city along the Mississippi atop the bluffs. The bluffs protected them from flooding, and the Mississippi provided an opportunity for trade. In the early, 1800s the Mississippi was used heavily to transport both goods and people between St Louis to New Orleans. John Overton and Andrew Jackson, law partners at the time, purchased the land that is now downtown Memphis and promoted it as a new community. Joined in their venture by the Winchester family, it was their patriarch, General James Winchester, who proposed naming the city Memphis. Due to recent discoveries in Egypt at the time, it is no surprise that it was on his mind.

Soon after, the government started charging passing ships to dock in Memphis for a fee. As the river flooded every year, it also conditioned the soil for growing cotton. Several affluent families – including the Fontaine and Overton families – began to purchase the cotton, store it, and resell it for a profit. 

Whether on the Nile or the Mississippi, Memphis founders identified opportunities and flourished by the river.

The Memphis Zoo

Memphis, Tennessee is proud to be home to a #1 ranked zoo in the country. Created in 1906, The Memphis Zoo, is now set on more than 70 acres of land that is home to more than four and a half thousand animals.

The architecture of the Memphis Zoo’s facade is notably designed to resemble the Temple of Ptah. In Ancient Egypt, this temple was dedicated to Ptah, his wife Sekhmet, and his son Nefertum. In Egyptian mythology, Ptah was the god of creation and is credited with creating the universe. As Memphis rose to become the capital of Egypt, Ptah’s popularity and fame rose as well. Not only does the facade of the Memphis Zoo look very similar to that of the temple, but the walkway up to the temple is lined with many sphinxes just as the walkway up to the zoo is lined with several statues of various animals. Both sites also feature several flags flying over the entrance. Someone even went as far to make sure the front of the zoo is marked with hieroglyphics and the colors conjure images and feeling of Ancient Egypt. 

It is no accident that the zoo contains all these Egyptian motifs. This is one of many ways in which our city has enthusiastically welcomed its namesake.

The Pyramid

Built in 1981 as an arena, the Memphis Pyramid was modeled after the Great Egyptian Pyramids.  Once again, we embraced our namesake and chose to build our city around another unforgettable aspect of Ancient Egypt.

Originally proposed in 1954, the plan was to build three Pyramids by the river. Just like the Egyptian pyramids, there would be one large main pyramid and two smaller pyramids. The main pyramid would be two thirds the scale of the main Pyramid in Egypt, and the smaller pyramids would be two thirds the size of the main pyramid. After thirty years, the idea was presented again and eventually a decision was made to build just the one pyramid that would become the Pyramid Arena.

Ramesses the Great

Ramesses II, also known as Ramasses the Great, ruled over Ancient Egypt for many years, and he is believed to be the Pharaoh that is noted in the story of the Exodus as told in the Old Testament. In November 1986, a 60 ton, 33-foot-tall statue of Ramesses the Great was discovered in Egypt. In 1987, Memphis, TN brought the item to town to be part of a local exhibition of Egyptian history and artifacts. The statue was displayed in Memphis, TN for the first time ever outside of Egypt. After being on display from April 15 until August 31 of that year, it was moved to be displayed in Denver, CO as part of another exhibition.

A few years later, Memphis, TN obtained permission from the Egyptian government to commission a 25-foot-tall replica of the Ramesses II statue. When the replica was completed circa 1991, it was placed outside The Pyramid to watch over and protect it. The Pyramid Arena was closed in 2004 when the FedEx Forum opened and became home to the local sports teams and various events. In 2012, the statue was moved to the University of Memphis, which is well known for its permanent Egyptian exhibits. The statue, which was previously overshadowed by The Pyramid, now stands tall and guards the University on Central Avenue.