Tom Morales on The Taxes Killing Nashville's Soul
From catering Hollywood's biggest stars on movie sets around the world to saving one of Nashville's most iconic buildings, Tom Morales has spent his life betting on Nashville and winning. But after surviving COVID, watching competitors multiply, and pouring everything into Acme Feed and Seed on Lower Broadway, Tom received a tax bill that jumped from $129,000 to $600,000 in a single year. In this episode, Tom shares his remarkable journey from one of ten kids in Madison to Hollywood sets to downtown Nashville visionary, and why he's now leading a coalition of 500+ small businesses in a fight that could determine whether Nashville stays Nashville — or becomes just another city of glass towers and hedge fund bars.
About Tom Morales
Tom Morales is the founder of Acme Feed & Seed and TomKat Hospitality, two brands that helped shape modern Nashville’s food, music, and entertainment scene. A Nashville native and one of ten children, Morales built his career through hospitality, live events, and film catering, working on major productions like A League of Their Own, Groundhog Day, and The Lord of the Rings.
Over the years, Morales became known not just for building successful businesses, but for preserving and reimagining iconic Tennessee spaces. His work revitalizing Acme Feed & Seed helped transform Lower Broadway into one of Nashville’s most recognizable destinations while maintaining the historic character that made the city unique.
Keeping Tennessee Local
Morales believes Nashville’s greatest strength is its people, local businesses, and creative culture. In this episode, he shares concerns about rising property taxes, rapid development, and the growing pressure facing small business owners across the city.
At the center of his message is a bigger question about Nashville’s future: how can the city continue growing without losing the independent businesses, music culture, and hospitality that made people fall in love with it in the first place? Through his advocacy, Morales argues that preserving Nashville’s identity requires long-term vision, leadership, and support for the entrepreneurs who helped build it.
Resources
ACME Feed and Seed
Tomkats Hospitality
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Spencer Patton: [00:00:00] Welcome to Signature Required. It is intended for Tennesseans by Tennessean,
Tom Morales, founder of Acne Feed and Seed, and Tom Kat Hospitality. Welcome to Signature Required.
Tom Morales: Well, thank you. Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
Spencer Patton: Tom, you are somewhat of a Middle Tennessee celebrity now, I'm quite sure you didn't aim or even want to be the type of celebrity that you are, but I want to get it out upfront in that part of the story that we're so excited to unpack with you today is you are an entrepreneur, you are a visionary, and you've kind of picked a little bit of a battle with Nashville in property taxes.
Uh, your story has. Consumed a lot of the [00:01:00] political air in Middle Tennessee and even more broad than Tennessee. You're an entrepreneur. That has a very successful business that is facing the very real financial reality of being unable to continue because of the rapidly expanding property taxes that you're being charged.
So I want to get that headline out straight up front. We're gonna roll the clock back before we dive into just that.
Tom Morales: Mm-hmm.
Spencer Patton: But before we go there, tell us, who is Tom Morales? Who are you?
Tom Morales: One of 10 kids, seven boys in a row. My mother was a drill sergeant and my dad was a immigrant and a World War II veteran with several purple hearts and, uh, a, a story of his own to tell about being behind the German lines with a Navajo Indian.
So that's kind of, you know, where I grew up. Uh, I, I knew the prone position to shoot a rifle when I was about three years old, and luckily my dad lived long enough to teach my boys how to do that as well. So it's, [00:02:00] uh, it, it, you know, 10 kids, it's, uh, it, it's control, chaos, and, and, and that's really what I was the first one born in Middle Tennessee.
My older brother. I'm the fourth. So the other three were born. My dad came outta World War ii, went to Dayton University on the GI Bill, came to Vanderbilt to get his master's, and then I was the fourth kid born. And that, at that point he was working two jobs. He needed a third job. Yeah. So he dropped outta school and he, b he was an entrepreneur as well.
So, but, uh, learning how to grow up in a, a family of, of 10 kids was, that's an entrepreneurial experience and all in its own
Spencer Patton: trying to figure out how do I get attention? Right. We noticed this, but just four kids. Oh yeah. So Carli and I have four, and each of their personalities is in some way shaped by. In the first year of their life, they figured out, oh, this is how I get noticed.
Mm-hmm. And our little boy [00:03:00] is the funniest little guy. And you can see when he does something that he knows is likely to be funny, he quickly scans the faces of every person in the room and can see their authentic reaction. And. He is one of the funniest kids that I know it's
Tom Morales: gonna serve him well as he goes, he grows up that, I mean, that's the same thing with us 10 kids.
You, you know, you were come combat my mother, you know, she, she could only, you know, cook and clean. There was so many things she could do. And, and so we went outside the house to get attention. I mean, I played sports, so that was where I went really, to get it. And, and that was a, you know, most of my youth was, it was pursuing that.
And, uh, but each one of us, to your point, developed their own, uh, way of getting attention and reinforcement.
Spencer Patton: I, so I'm an only child.
Mm-hmm.
Spencer Patton: And I grew up with my imaginary friends. And
Carli Patton: you probably shouldn't put that on air, you don't wanna admit that.
Spencer Patton: I did. I had several imaginary [00:04:00] friends that kept me company along the way, and I grew up knowing that.
When I had kids, I wanted to have at least two or three, and we ended up having four. But I knew that an only child is a rare exception that I didn't want to try to repeat. When you're one of 10, do you go through that experience saying ten's a lot and I might wanna do less? Or was it saying, Hey, a big family is magical and I really want this for my next generation?
Tom Morales: All of the above. Because I can, I can remember saying I'm not gonna have a family. I've had enough family as it was. And then I had my daughter, my oldest daughter, and I said, wow, this is, I like this. And then a second daughter, and then, uh, I went to New Zealand to do Lord of the Rings, and I came back
And I got twins out of the deal. Uh, so, uh, I've, I've never regretted it. And the boys, there's enough gap where, uh. I kind of go through [00:05:00] retirement with them as my, my, my compadres, my pi pals. So we'll take a trip. Let's go to Alaska. Okay, dad. And we, we will do something like that. So it's, it's been, uh, it's like I've had my two best friends with me.
Carli Patton: Mm.
Tom Morales: And then I'm working with my other two best friends, so it's, it's, it's kinda like kept us really close. Mm-hmm.
Carli Patton: Wait, did you say that you went to New Zealand to do Lord of the Rings? We were just gonna like skate by that. Could you like, elaborate on what you mean by do Lord of the
Tom Morales: Rings? Well, cater, we are movie caterers and, uh, we worked with a guy who won Academy Award, Barry Osborne and a producer and, uh, Zane Wiener, who's over there right now doing, uh, uh, a follow up to that movie.
Uh, I can't remember what it's called, but it's, it's a, another of the trilogy. Uh, it's not the trilogy, it's the add-on to the trilogy, uh, which I don't know what a foursome is called, but the fourth. In take of that. But anyway, so yeah, he calls me and [00:06:00] says, uh, Tom, I need you down here. And I said, well, what?
He says, well, we've got a caterer down here, but he's not in the 21st century. He's like, uh, they we're feeding 600 people a day. We're doing three movies in one. So they were filming three different movies at one time. Oh, wow. So they did all of 'em at the same time. I didn't know that. So, so they're, they've got like six or 800 people that they're feeding every day.
And the guy had never seen a hot box, never seen a chafing dish. So I actually went down there as a technical support for locations and, uh, spent three or four weeks down there just, uh, flying to different locations and they put me on a helicopter, a little two-seater airplane, which scared me to death.
But we were going to locations first I was advising the local caterer how to. Keep, he had a big pot and he would just drop pasta in it, throw it in a bowl. And, and, and so if you know anything about a movie, I learned this on a league of their own. The way the the [00:07:00] clock works is the first person in is not when you start your lunch break.
It's when the last person through the line gets their food. So if it takes you an hour to feed somebody, the first guy's getting an hour and a half break. That's the way the union works. So I was on a league of their own, and Joe Hartwick comes up, the producer said, man, you're feeding everybody in 20 minutes.
And I said, am I in trouble? And he says, no. And he explained what I just said. And he said, so we had set up 10 buffet lines identical. They all led to grills. So we were doing tuna and uh, you know, chicken steaks off the grill. But everybody was flowing. They were identical. Double-sided buffets where people were just coming out to the, the grill, so they, they're passing through the line.
So we were feeding everybody in 20 minutes and saving him about seven to $10,000 a day because it was costing them $15,000 an hour to film that movie. So we had innovated through ignorance. We, we didn't, we'd never, we'd never seen how it was supposed to be done, but we couldn't imagine there being [00:08:00] long lines of people waiting to get food.
So we would just set it up like that. And so we were two years into it when we discovered we were doing it different than everybody else.
Carli Patton: Wow. Well, and I wonder how much being from a family with 10 kids informed you how to feed a lot of people very quickly, because I imagine it's same. Same.
Tom Morales: Oh, I can tell you on City Slickers, Billy Crystal comes up to me.
Carli Patton: Hold on. Okay. City Slickers, league of their own. Lord of the Rings. Lord of the Rings. You're like naming all the movies I watched with my dad that were contraband other places as I was growing up.
Tom Morales: Well, we were, we were at 8,000 feet and I learned that propane doesn't burn at 8,000 feet or it does, but it's not a hot flame.
But my mother would all, we were Catholic of course, and we had a, a name day. So on your saint's name day you got to name what you're having for dinner. So I always picked the lamb shanks. 'cause back then you could get 'em for a nickel pound. They, you know, my mother would render 'em all day long. Mm-hmm.
Well, by the end of the, uh, the rendering [00:09:00] process, which was probably four or five hours, there'd be two or three inches of grease at the top of the pot. So Grace would take out white bread and throw it on the, on the grease and, and absorb all the, the, the renderings. Sure. And then my dad would put it on sheet pans, put it in the oven and toast it.
And that was our appetizer. So the boys would just eat this. I mean, lucky I'm, I'm alive, but, but, so I'm. I'm at 8,000 feet on a propane burner that's barely working. And, and, but it's about two inches deep in grease. And Billy comes by and says, oh, what's that? And I said, oh, it's an old family recipe. Don't worry.
It is gonna be great. And I'm throwing white bread on it, soaking up the grease. And then so when he came, made, when he came through the line, he's, he, he made a, a big deal of, oh, family recipe, you know, but, uh, we did all his movies and we did all, all. Sandra Bullocks movies, all the Jodi Foster movies. I mean, we were in contracts, a little company from [00:10:00] Nashville, but you, we, we, we understood hospitality and, and, and that's a key ingredient in, in, in the food service businesses.
Uh, making people feel at home and feeling like they're special. Mm-hmm. And talking to 'em and listening in a movie set, you're, you're with people 60, 70 days and on a rock and roll concert at Starwood. They're, they're here one day and they're gone the next, I have it for you tomorrow. Well, they're gonna be 300 miles away tomorrow.
Mm-hmm. But on a movie set, you can't really do that. So, uh, th they know, you know, when Sandra Bullock said she's on the zone diet, and I said, Hmm, okay. I went to the bookstore, this is before the internet, so I go to the bookstore and I, the zone diet, there it is. And so I, the next day I knew exactly, you know, a palm of your hand, three meals a day, you know nothing.
And, and so when. You connect like that with somebody who, whose health is very important. And even on, on, like, on city slickers, we, we brought [00:11:00] in sushi. I mean, we, we flew in, uh, our sushi chef Yosha from, from Destin, Florida. And, and, and with, with our fresh seafood. And we're up in, at purgatory in Colorado serving fresh sushi, sushi, and everybody's, oh yeah, this came in from Florida.
So I mean, just having that gene, that hospitality gene, uh, which I think comes from a large family too. Uh, everybody kind of takes care of each other and, and helps out as you know, as best you can. Uh, but uh, it's served me well.
Spencer Patton: So let's bring in Acme feed and seed into the discussion. 'cause it sounds like, if I have my timeline right, the hospitality, the movie business is really where you got your entrepreneurial success.
And then Acme feed and seed. Came not second, but it came later down the line. Right.
Tom Morales: Well, let me back up, because my [00:12:00] entrepreneurial moment came, I was doing Starwood amphitheater in, in, in 80, 19, 87. They started doing country music videos. Rock and roll had been doing it for 10 years. Well, we, when Starwood was seasonal, so in October I had no business.
Mm-hmm. So I, we had won an award called the Directors Award, which was for, uh, success of the amphitheater. And, and so I used that as a direct mail piece, sent it out to these six or seven video houses and probably like. Creative agencies too. We sent out 60 handwritten letters with a picture of our trophy.
And, and that led to getting a country music video and, or several. And then we started doing videos. And then this guy, Steven Buck, who was a director for Marty Stewarts Hillbilly Rock, he came, he said, Hey, I do movies too. And I said, you should get in the movie business. Well, I didn't, I didn't know I was vain enough to think he meant acting, but I had never heard of catering.
And, [00:13:00] and so, uh, uh, we get a call from a movie and the call is, is, Hey, we want, we hear you're the best caterer. We're coming to Nashville to do a movie. Can we interview you? Last question they asked, uh, and I had read the Fred Smith story, but mm-hmm. This is gonna come into play. The he, they said, do you have a mobile kitchen?
Well. Yeah, I had never heard those two words together before in my life, but I knew the answer. I said, yes, absolutely. Yes, yes. Two of 'em, in fact. Oh, that's state of the art. That's funny. Yeah, you're good. So, and because there said yes and said, okay, don't call us, we'll call you, I'll call my sister who's in la who's a set decorator.
I said, what's a mobile kitchen? She says, it's like a Winnebago with a kitchen in it. They use 'em on all the movie sets. So I said, send me a la time. So she sent me the paper. I found one in Phoenix, Arizona. They call me back, say, Hey, you got the job. And I, I didn't have the money to buy the mobile kitchen.
So I went back to 'em and I said, Hey, uh, you know, uh, I can't [00:14:00] block off my summer without a deposit. And they said, how much? And I said, well, $10,000. And, uh. They wrote me the check. I thought they were gonna say no. Wow. But they wrote me the check. I get on an airplane, fly to Phoenix, Arizona. This guy meets me.
And, and he, he's leads me over to this mobile kitchen, which is, looks to me like a roach coach. I don't know. I'd never seen one. So I didn't know what it was. So three days to get back to town and, uh, we tore out everything. Uh, we got a little, uh, a guy outta Donaldson. Put the Tomcat, we, uh, the 16-year-old kid that did our logo, he, he, he was working backstage at Starwood.
And, and so we got all this built and, and I put from Fred Smith mobile kitchen number three.
Spencer Patton: Wow.
Tom Morales: So, because he didn't have. Planes. When he started the business, he was using Eastern Airlines planes. So I said, man, I'm gonna do a little Fred Smith story here.
Spencer Patton: That is amazing. How Tennessee do.
Carli Patton: I love that.
Spencer Patton: Taking some FedEx inspiration there.
Tom Morales: [00:15:00] Well, and, and they said, where's number one and two? Well, they're working. So that's what started us in the film business. And, and we did a, a little movie and then we did another little movie. Then we did Prince Tides and we did League of Their Own Groundhog Day. What about Bob?
We went by stop. We were just a little company outta Nashville. Wow. But it was beautiful and it was logistics. A lot of logistics because you know, they say the movie schedule for 60 days and it'll go 80. When we went to Easter Island, south America, we were supposed to be down there 18 days, and we were down there three months.
Spencer Patton: Mm.
Tom Morales: And there's only two airplanes a week that come to the island. And the only product you have is sweet potatoes and broccoli. And they grow it and let it die in the ground because there's not enough. People on the island to eat it and it's too expensive to ship out. So we had plenty of sweet potatoes and, and broccoli, but we had fishermen out fishing for marlin and uh, or anything they catch caught marlin tuna.
One day we didn't have any, any protein, and they came in with a 750 pound marlin and we fed it for three days. [00:16:00] Wow. But that was a Kevin Kasner produced movie for Barry Osborne, who was the guy I went to New Zealand with. So he was known for doing the most difficult movies. If there was a movie that was extreme locations, Barry got the call.
Carli Patton: And so you're growing your family that time. So you have your two girls, when were they born?
Tom Morales: 84 and, and 90.
Carli Patton: Okay.
Tom Morales: So
Carli Patton: I would, and you started this in 87. So right in there.
Tom Morales: I started Starwood in 86. Kent Lauren was born in Destin, Florida. I was running restaurants, Harbor Docks and working for a guy named Charles Morgan.
And, uh, moved back to me.
Carli Patton: Wait, we have to stop you. Destin is our happy place as a family. You keep saying Destin. Yeah. We went town while we were Vandy students and Spencer had grown up going, I had never been. And he was like, I have to take you to Harbor Docks. They have the best food ever. And so That's so funny.
It's like, it's very much part of our story.
Tom Morales: That's where we, uh, Charles, who's still one of my best friends, and Chris Wilson who [00:17:00] owns the Zoo Gallery. Mm-hmm. Which you, you probably are familiar with. Yes. Chris and I played football at Auburn together. And, uh, so we're still like best, best friends and so that was my happy place too, until I found The Bahamas.
Carli Patton: So you're growing your business or really leaping and buying, you know. Kitchen number three. Same time you're having your daughters and figuring out what's next. Your wife sounds like a saint.
Tom Morales: She came back and I was working, I came back to work. Ray Danner hired me at a Destin and I came to work for him at the sale maker.
Mm-hmm. And, uh. Man, I was telling this story the other day. I was seasoning the fish and my boss came in and took my seasoning and threw it like across the room, says we don't season fish. So, you know, it was, it was a white bread community at that point. Salt and pepper was about as seasoned as you got.
Spencer Patton: Wow.
Tom Morales: And so, uh, I was, I knew my days were limited and, uh, he, he, Ray called me my, my wild entrepreneur because I wanted to always refine things and, and [00:18:00] he had a set way of doing it. And, and so that, you know, anybody creative is not gonna last long in that situation.
Spencer Patton: Making sure I have the timeline right to bring us to Acme Feed and Seed, because
Tom Morales: like, okay. So
Spencer Patton: yeah.
Tom Morales: So growing up, I mean, that was. We would do a two car parade from Madison. We grew up in Madison and my dad would drive the nice brand new Chrysler and the girls could sit in that.
And my mother drove the Dodge Dart, I mean Dodge Station wagon and had a rumple seat to face the back. And so we'd drive down and go to Acme to get, you know, at Easter time they had the dyed chickens and little bunny rabbits, and we'd get our dog food. And uh, if we were good, she'd march us up to Candy Land and we'd go over to Coral's Hardware.
You're, you're, y'all are too young to remember that. But that was before there were Lowe's and Home Depot. So you a visit to a home, a Lowe's back then took you three different stores? Yeah. Mm-hmm. They weren't all combined. So that was, that [00:19:00] was planted the seed. And then when I came back and we were doing dancing in the district in the nineties, I looked out there and I saw a.
It was just a postcard. It's just one of the most beautiful historic buildings on Lower, broad. And everything else was, I mean, uh, ed Stallman did the merchants, George Gru restored a building and, uh, I think, uh, Jack Hawthorn, uh, put where we down there in front of, uh, hard Rock. He had his little barbecue place at that point.
And I said, man, let's save this. So we went over there and it had, they had stored, uh, nitrites in it for so long that it was contaminated. The, the environmental cleanup was like 500,000. It was more than the cost of the building at that time.
Spencer Patton: Yeah. 'cause a lot of people that come to downtown Nashville now, the bachelorette capital of the world.
I don't know that downtown Nashville was not at all what it is today. I mean, it was legitimately unsafe. Uh, [00:20:00] how, how would you describe downtown Nashville before it got went through?
Tom Morales: Well, the whole premise, when I came back from Destin and I, I wanted to open my own restaurant in Nashville and Second Avenue was just like spectacular in my opinion, the historic buildings.
And it wrapped around lower broad, but it was. Pawn shops and porn shops. I mean, that was it. And there was some strip joints and it was, uh, you know, there's very little creativity still going on there. I mean, there was some, still some honky tonks, you know, Tootsies was still there, but anything was for sale that was cheap and it was dilapidated and falling in.
And, uh, ed Stoneman really led the charge with merchants. And as a kid, I'd seen with my dad, I'd seen Willie Nelson playing in the lobby. You know, he's holding my brother in my hand. We didn't care, but he did. And, and so, and, and then, you know, the, the legendary story of him selling, uh, uh, crazy to Patsy Kline [00:21:00] for a beer tab and, you know, became the biggest hit of in country music.
But, and he said, well, I can always write another song. But anyway, so that, that, that was, that was impression was. You know, pushed into my brain, you know, when I was probably four or five, six years old. And so when we, we went to buy it. We couldn't afford it because of the contamination. Well, 2010 the flood came through there.
Mm-hmm. But we led that whole transition of, of redevelopment. They used dancing in the district to recruit the titans, recruit predators, to recruit hard rock, to recruit planet Hollywood. And by the time we ended there were 40 new businesses on lower Broadway.
Spencer Patton: Yeah. And describe for people that don't know dancing in the district what that was.
Tom Morales: It was a free outdoor concert. We had seen, uh, uh, them doing it in Houston. I was working at Starwood Amphitheater and PACE concerts was the, uh, promoter, and they were based outta Houston. And they said, Hey, [00:22:00] this is what Nashville needs. And so I flew down with one of the promoters and saw what they were doing.
It was just. A, a plaza party, but everybody came out. I said, let's try that. So we went to Bill Boner, who was the mayor at the time, and Bill kind of, you know, stuck his hand out, like, what's in it for me? And we, oh, nothing. We don't even know what's in it for us. We just think it's a good idea. So we went back the next year.
Phil Bredesen was now the, the mayor. And Phil, Phil was a self-made man. He was an entrepreneur. He knew exactly. He said, look, let's put it up at Capitol Boulevard. He got Vicki Oglesby, who is the sharpest woman I've ever worked with. Uh, one of 'em, my daughter, I can't say that, but she, but, but. She was like, you didn't have to go to 10 different departments to get permits.
You got once Phil said it was you doing it, Vicki said it was done, and then all you had to do is focus on what you were doing. Yeah. Which was, and no one has done it like that since. So, uh, and it's what's missing in government, [00:23:00] you know, a true leadership. Uh, so, so, um, we did it and we invited them. Women's Chamber of Commerce Moose had, my brother-in-law had quit the Air Force and come to work for me, so this was his first big project.
And so it was like 300 people, 300 women, maybe 100 guys. The next, we had Clarence Gate Mouth, brown, and it started raining. We had to take the concession tent and put it over the stage so he would come out and play. And it was the next week it was 600 people.
The next week is by the end of the summer, we did six shows. I think we had 2000 people. And, and Mayor Bison said, you can move it to the riverfront next spring. Well, 8,000 people showed up for the very first one.
Spencer Patton: Wow.
Tom Morales: And, and, and it was funny because the, everybody would come out and their work clothes at first and, you know, look around and it was like.
Hey, this is happening. So the next week you'd start seeing people showing up in their look at me clothes. They'd go home and change clothes and come back. It was the biggest happy hour [00:24:00] and it was, uh, you know, five or 6,000 people would come for the music and another three or 4,000 just come to socialize.
I had, can't tell you how many people have told me, I met my wife there. You know, this is, this was significant in my life. And that's, and we employed school teachers to check IDs. So, you know, that was another thing. We have 40 school teachers working and, and you know, they were making income. So it was, it was a really, a community event.
And it was, uh, uh, it, we had to bear naked ladies before they were big. We had kept MO for $600 the next year. I think it was a hundred thousand if we'd won them. Wow. But we either got 'em on their way up or their way down, but it was free. And so how we worked it as an entrepreneur, we worked it, we made the beer revenue.
Spencer Patton: Okay.
Tom Morales: So if you know, of course, 10, 12,000 people can drink a lot of beer. Yeah. And when there's no competition anywhere around, yeah. They couldn't go sit in a bar. As we got to the 10 year mark of that, there was so many new bars and restaurants, people were hanging out there checking the weather. If it's hot, they were in [00:25:00] the air conditioning, then they would just come down.
So our revenues were going down. We worked ourselves out of a, a, a job.
Spencer Patton: So Acme Feed and Seed, the building for those not familiar with downtown Nashville, you know, it's this incredibly historic building built in 1894 stories tall, and it really would be a crown jewel to own. But it sat there full of contaminated nitrate and.
It was vacant for really all of that
Tom Morales: time. 15 years.
Spencer Patton: Yeah.
Tom Morales: And so, uh, this flood washed out all the nitrates and so we went back in and, uh, we were able to rent it. The, the Turner Foundation, Turner's have bought, had bought it, but, uh, we, we rented it. And uhs we basically in, in my lifetime, own it, but if we want to.
So the idea, [00:26:00] uh, which was the same idea I had with the Loveless. The Loveless was for sale. And I found some friends that, that, that had the money and said, let's save it. And, and, and w Wal Grant Woolworth up there, we, we saved that building. I, I saved several historic buildings, but that was the crown jewel.
I mean, that's, that everybody that comes to Nashville sees the Acme. And so that was, and then we just had to, you know, I raised the money, but then I had to figure out how to pay 'em back. Mm-hmm. And, uh, so I said, well, let's just think of it as like four restaurants on top of each other instead of four different locations.
There's, so the first one is on You Talk. The second one is like the sports bar, uh, you know, the Chill bar. And then the third floor was an event space. And then we got up on the roof and we said, we gotta put a, we gotta, this view is the best in town. And so we. After we'd raised the money, we had to go raise more money to do that.
We went to the bank and three and a half years we paid it all back. The building saved and it's historic. And, uh, right at the [00:27:00] point in time where it should have been very profitable for me, COVID hit and we, we, we lost, uh, three businesses to COVID, uh, uh, fend and Pearl, uh, Woolworth. And, uh, we, we were able just, we did not get any of the relief money.
We got the PPP money, which is basically unemployment. Mm-hmm. Uh, it's a pass through money. Yeah. We didn't get any of the relief money.
We got zero.
Spencer Patton: Yeah.
Tom Morales: So, uh. That
Spencer Patton: was, is that, that that PPP, the paycheck protection program basically gave you six weeks worth of pay for employees. That was just a straight pass through to try to gap,
Tom Morales: keep
Spencer Patton: people gap. But it was not near,
Tom Morales: we kept, we, we went into crisis mode and I had had advice from a guy who I really respect, Sam Borghese.
And he, he had said, uh, Tom, you should have at least three months of, of reserve for your fixed expenses. And he says, really, you should have six months [00:28:00] to a year. And he said, that way you're protected for any downturn. And so we went into COVID with about six months of. Fixed expense in the bank. And, and that's your rent, your insurance, everything.
Mm-hmm. The, your salaried employees, everything like that. And immediately that was used up. I mean, and, and, and we never recovered from COVID. No one did. They didn't stop two years. They did not stop building buildings. Metro government kept issuing beer permits, liquor permits. There's uh, you know, almost 50 new.
They doubled the amount of square footage of bar space in those two years. So we come outta COVID, all of a sudden, you're not you, you're not, we're a honky tonk. You know, now it's, it's nothing but Las Vegas style clubs. You go in all those places there, you know, Garth Brooks can say it's the low place, but you know, he's gotta
disco stage as big as most honky tonks. So, you know, it's, it's disingenuous. And, and, and [00:29:00] that's, that's really what's, uh, you know, everybody thinks we're printing money down there and that there's, every one of those businesses is struggling. Every one of 'em. John Bon Jovi's back out on tour, that tells you something.
Yeah. Most of 'em are owned by hedge funds and they're licensing deals. Uh, there, there's the, the same amount of volume coming in people wise, but it's spread over, you know, a hundred businesses where it used to be spread over 40.
So we're, we were in a, uh, and then we come out of it and, and, and then the property tax thing hits in, you know, October, I, you know, I'd supportive Freddy, I said, Hey man, if I ever need to call you, uh, will you accept my call? 'cause Mayor Cooper didn't. And he said, yes. Well, I got my tax bill. It went up from $129,000, which had doubled two years before.
I'm in a historic building in a floodplain that it's only gonna be what it is.
Spencer Patton: Right? Mm-hmm.
Tom Morales: It can't be anything. It can't be a 40 story building. It goes [00:30:00] from $129,000 to $600,000 in one year. And here we are struggling since COVID and, and, and, you know, that's a $50,000 a month tax. Mm-hmm. It's more than our rent.
It's more than our, uh, you know, you look at it, rent and profit, and you combine 'em, and it's not $600,000. Mm-hmm. So my, my, my, my reaction was, Hey, I gotta call Freddy. Surely he'll understand, because he ran on keeping Nashville. Nashville. And, and, and, uh, I talked to all his important people and they, oh yeah, it's coming.
It's coming. Well, finally, I just decided, you know what? I'm gonna write him a letter. And, um, the snow ice storm hit. I said, well, I'll wait. We were doing, uh, the World Central Kitchen. We were feeding in three different locations, which is a godsend for those people and for us. 'cause it kept our employees busy during that ice storm and paid.
And, and so, uh, I finally sent it a week later and basically I thought was a [00:31:00] pretty approachable letter. Mm-hmm. A politician, a smart politician would've said, yes, Tom, come on in. Let's talk about this.
Even though his hand, my hands are tied, I can't really. Mm-hmm. And that everybody was pointing their fingers. State of Tennessee has a hand in it, that tax assessor has it. And, and Freddy has. All I wanted was advocacy.
Spencer Patton: Mm-hmm.
Tom Morales: Because when Khalil Arnold grew up with him, his whole family at Arnold's, he says, I gotta do 10,000 meals a, a year extra to pay for this tax bill.
That's, that's the lifeblood of Nashville. Why did these towers come to Nashville? They came here because of our hospitality, of our meat and threes, our music scene, everything that's attractive about Nashville. They came here and, and established their headquarters, and now we're gonna squash it out. They haven't charged an impact fee in 10 years.
So these buildings, they build these huge, giant buildings and none of the plumbing, electrical, all the infrastructure has to come from who? Hmm. [00:32:00] From property owners. I don't even own my property. If you wanna look at something crazy, the, the, the Ryman Auditorium is assessed at half the value of Acme, half the value of Acme, and it's twice a square footage.
Wow. And we're in a floodplain. We were eight feet of water in 2010. It will never be what it, other than what it is. And the other thing that just really upsets me, okay, if you're a wealthy guy, let, let's say you're, uh, Elon Musk. You don't even make an income. You just borrow money against your Tesla stock or your starlink stock, so you never have to pay taxes on it.
Mm-hmm. You're living like a trillionaire and, and, and you don't pay taxes because you haven't realized the value of that stock. But every homeowner in Tennessee, every business owner that owns their property or has a triple net lease, you're not realizing that value because you haven't [00:33:00] sold it. So why are we taxed on a unrealized profit that some assessor is saying it's worth?
Spencer Patton: Mm-hmm.
Tom Morales: It's criminal almost. It, it's, it'll end up in a big, huge lawsuit just for that reason, unless there's some relief.
Spencer Patton: So in trying to frame this up, the 2010 flood in downtown Nashville really started the renovation and the revitalization of downtown. That
Tom Morales: and the tornadoes.
Spencer Patton: That's right. Yes. Yeah, those, those two major things. And people really don't appreciate, especially the flood for downtown, that it required a total redo of a meaningful portion.
And so Nashville downtown was already ready to go through change, but that really demanded it because now everything was underwater. There was insurance money in play, and just a lot of things that needed to go, were gone. And so the [00:34:00] vision for Acme Feed and Seed, when did you start revitalizing Acme Feed and Seed?
Tom Morales: Well, we're 11 years into it, so, but my first thought was 1994 when I tried to buy it, and then we, uh, spent 11 years going on 12 years.
Spencer Patton: Yeah. Yeah. So 20 14, 20 15 type, type timeframe. So you catch the vision to say, all right, I'm gonna come into a place that I think could be the crown jewel for downtown Nashville.
You put in, you raise capital, you make the investments, and just at the moment that you're really prepared to see the fruit of that 2020 comes along and. You end up having a significant battle as all of us did with the government. Mm-hmm. Saying here are different standards, there are different states, there's different enforcement, there's different rules.
I don't like it, I do [00:35:00] like it doesn't matter. Political, all of it. Total pandemonium. And so you live in that space and take significant financial damage for a couple years worth of time, right?
Tom Morales: Yeah, absolutely.
Spencer Patton: When you come out of that season, you come back to a downtown Nashville, where now there's significantly more competition than there was before.
The government has very graciously in some people's eyes, more predatory in your eyes, uh, allowed for liquor licenses, alcohol sales. There's a lot of places for people to go, and so there's a ton of competition. As the value of downtown Nashville changes, you're once again getting. The benefit of the foot traffic coming to downtown Nashville, you're getting the opportunity to.
Again, realize the fruit of your vision, which is Now lemme stop
Tom Morales: you though.
Spencer Patton: Yeah.
Tom Morales: Because the foot traffic completely changed [00:36:00] during COVID. It went from, uh, uh, a music seeker, somebody that's wanting to see the magic of Nashville. You gotta remember too, we had a TV show that kinda Yeah. Yes. Nashville, which was kinda like bringing people in that who wanted to see the magic created on Lower Broad.
So we were a discovery platform. We still are, where we are putting people on our stage that, that are, are trying to make it, they have a day job and a dream is what I call 'em. And, and so they're working with bartenders and then they're playing their music at night. And so you, you've got this real creativity happening and, and these people who, their lifelong dream is not to be a bartender, it's to be a, a musician.
The only reason I wanna stop you there is because during COVID, we watched this lawlessness. Mm-hmm. It was five counties. You can look at the police blotters, five counties around Nashville. 63% of the arrests were from local people. Hmm. And, and, and we had conventions that were trying to rebook. They were coming down there and the debauchery and the people throwing up on the sidewalks and, [00:37:00] and police being part of the party, you know,
so my point is, is that crowd completely switched through COVID. When it came back, it was party in the streets. And the metro government has, uh, allowed that to continue by closing the streets. So the party is in the streets.
People have their flask. They're not spending money, they're doing their drugs. You know, the, the party's in the street. We have security in our building. And our building is family friendly. You can bring any age kid in there. We're family friendly, but even if we're not, we have security. So our security is.
Can't police the streets.
Spencer Patton: Mm-hmm.
Tom Morales: So go.
Spencer Patton: Yeah. Yeah, that's a good point. So you, you're kind of in a place where the business is getting traction in a new way, although the foot traffic has changed, the value of the properties in downtown Nashville is screaming higher. Right. Everyone's moving to Nashville.
Everyone's moving to Tennessee. And so you're [00:38:00] in a dynamic of having a triple net lease, which means that even though you rent, you have to pay the taxes, insurance, you've gotta pay the utilities. You've gotta,
Tom Morales: when Morgan Wallen throws his chair off the top of the building, you know what that does for me?
It raises my liability insurance. Yeah.
Spencer Patton: Yeah. And so you're in this dynamic where a mayor comes in and. Yeah. Part of his initiative is to raise money for a number of different objectives, and the property taxes is seen as a way to be able to tax a more commercial setting, which causes property taxes to go up 300%.
But in reality, the real person being taxed here is the entrepreneur.
What has been, after your letter to Mayor O'Connell, what has been the coverage and the questions that you get asked? Yeah, because [00:39:00] it's been in the media a lot,
Tom Morales: it's gonna get even wor, uh, more in the media, uh, you know, as we get closer to the election.
Spencer Patton: I imagine so,
and
Spencer Patton: that's really what I wonder
Tom Morales: is they did hit a raw nerve.
Yeah. I mean, people are pissed, you know, everybody that owns a property in Metro Nashville are pissed. Yeah.
I
Carli Patton: know.
Tom Morales: All Mayor Freddy had to do was say, Tom, come on in. Let's talk.
Carli Patton: Mm-hmm.
Tom Morales: Be an advocate. And instead he dismissed me. He, and, and, you know, he, he played the long version. It was even more dismissive. You know, Tom's a smart guy.
He'll figure it out. You know, businesses, some good businesses come and they go, well, you know what I was thinking. Some mayors are one term, some mayors are two terms.
I, I really wanted a solution. Mm-hmm. How, how am I taxed? You said 300%, 450% increase in my taxes and I'm in a flood plain in a historic building.
Carli Patton: Mm-hmm.
Tom Morales: There, there's no me realizing any kind of, if I, it's not mine to sell, but if it was mine to sell, I'd still be [00:40:00] selling a historic building and a flood plain.
I mean, tell me how that, how that makes sense. And, and then, okay, why isn't he screaming at the state to the state is who took the impact fees away from these tall buildings? So we're left paying the bill, just mom and paw retired on, you know, in Green Hills or wherever they retired with a property tax increase.
Spencer Patton: How would that conversation have gone if, if you would've come in and met with Mayor O'Connell and how could he have advocated? How do we get somewhere? Because I, I'm with you in the, the passion and the intensity and the helplessness of it, right? Mm-hmm. I mean, this is something that is much bigger than you in a system that was here before you and will be here after you.
And that's a really intimidating feeling as an entrepreneur to be going up against government with a capital G. So what is there [00:41:00] to do? From here?
Tom Morales: Well, I think the first thing everybody has to do is recognize that they have a vote. And a lot of the people that are complaining don't, don't vote.
And, and, and statewide, what, if you asked me what the conversation would've been, I would've said, Hey, Freddy, I went through COVID. You didn't have anything to do with that. I suffered through it. I came out We're, we're, we're barely making it, but we're making it. Uh, you, you've got, uh, I've got legal immigrants in my walk-in cooler hiding because ICE agents are outside.
That they think they're gonna get snatched even though they're legal. I said, W where's your voice on that? That's another tax on the entrepreneur. Okay. You can't get, you can't, you get help, but you, you gotta worry about it then, then you, you we're, we're dealing with tariffs. Our, our food costs are, everything is going up.
[00:42:00] Our, our, our whole, uh, business model is broken, and then we get this draconian tax increase. If I'm in your position and I'm fighting for survival and I'm in a business, what we have just gone through the last, since October, we've laid people off. we've cut our music programming.
You know, took everything that's a high food cost off our menus. You know, we're, we're, we're doing the fiscal responsibility to stay in business. Mm-hmm. What are you doing as a mayor?
Spencer Patton: Yeah. It felt like a betrayal.
Tom Morales: Yeah. And he's the one who's ran on Let's Keep Nashville. Nashville. And, and he told me that to my face.
And, and so really what would've come outta that conversation would probably been the same intensity to him, but we would've come out partners and, and, or he would've been dismissive. Dennis Fairer had been wanting to do an article, a story for three, three months, ever since the tax.
I said, I'm ready. And, and at that point, when it touches me. [00:43:00] Like it did then I know there's other people that are feeling it, and I, I'd had conversations with other business owners. We've got a coalition now that has over 500 small businesses in it. And, uh, and we need a good mayoral candidate who, who understands and, and maybe it maybe is a radical and in the sense that even, you know, you look at state government right now,
And all they're looking at is the money grab. They want to grab the, the convention center money. They want to grab the Super Bowl money. They want to grab the entertainment district's money. And when you don't advocate and you don't get loud and you don't stomp your feet, uh, they're just gonna roll right over you.
And, and, and, and so he's got one of the only voices, uh, Nashville is, is a central voice. It's an international voice, and he's silent. We just did an article with the Financial Times in London. It's coming out anytime everybody around the world is paying attention to what's going on in Nashville because we, we are the heart and soul of the music industry.
[00:44:00] There's, there's no other city in the world that wouldn't die for the moniker. Music. City
Spencer Patton: So where do things sit, present day? Where are we at right now in what the next steps are for Acme and for you personally?
Tom Morales: Well, personally, I've got, uh, September 1st is my deadline and I have an appeal. And if we don't win our appeal significantly win our appeal, then we're gonna. Uh, file lawsuits.
Spencer Patton: So what's the deadline? What's the September 1st deadline?
Tom Morales: That's our appeal date. Okay. And, and there's over 15,000 appeals, or 14,000, almost 15,000 appeals for people that are similar to me.
And there's another 15,000 that wish they had appealed.
Spencer Patton: And so just for familiarity, for those that haven't had to go through this process, when there is an assessment and a change in value of a property that results in a tax change of any amount, but certainly this amount, you have a window of time to appeal that.
And to either ask for a different valuation of the property or ask [00:45:00] for a different taxation,
Tom Morales: we're gonna, we're gonna present, like some of the points I made, we're in a, we're in a flood zone. Flood or a historic building flood. We'll never realize the value you've assigned to us. Mm-hmm. There's no way to realize it.
Yeah. So, um,
Spencer Patton: there's not any more nitrates you can find in that basement, are there?
Carli Patton: Well, what I find really interesting about that too though, is, you know, to do this, a lot of small businesses and entrepreneurs. They're so in the weeds, the idea of, oh, I can appeal this. It's not like it comes on there. It's like, and if you don't like it, just let us know and we'll talk about it.
It's like you knew you had to fight, but so many small business owners either don't know this is their first time having a business or the fight is kind of gone. It's been beaten out of them. And so,
Tom Morales: well, a lot of 'em aren't even aware of it. 'cause they're on triple net leases. You say triple net lease, that's the only lease you can get.
Everybody's said, why'd you sign a triple net lease? Tell me where you can get a a lease. that's not triple net. I mean it is what it is and especially when you're dealing with downtown Nashville. Yeah. And so, but you [00:46:00] don't expect a draconian increase in taxes. Mm-hmm Uh, you don't put that in your business plan.
Yeah. I mean that's $50,000 a month extra. Well, it's gotta come from somewhere.
Spencer Patton: How does the owner of the property view this? Because obviously they've got a tenant that they, I imagine are very happy with, right? I mean, you all have been an amazing. A tenant that drives a lot of people who've taken good care of the building and they're facing the very real probability of losing that tenant either in your story or others like them.
How have you seen the property owners? Because I could imagine one mindset where the owner says, well, as long as my tenant is paying the taxes, it ain't coming outta my hide. And so it is what it is. But that's also very shortsighted, uh, because if tenants start dropping like flies in downtown Nashville, then the value of properties is gonna be.
Shortly followed by that. So how are you hearing owners? You, I'm
Tom Morales: in a unique position because I have a, a pass through lease. I have a, a middleman that [00:47:00] has the land lease and he leases from the owner and both of 'em have been sympathetic. Uh, but I'm still paying the taxes. Yeah. And, and, and, and the, the reality is, is when I see the, the hedge funds like cringing and starting to think about getting rid of properties or actively trying to get rid of properties, it, it worries me.
And what's gonna happen is, is all the, uh, entrepreneurs and small business people will capitulate at some point and, and it'll be, uh, you know, it'll be Las Vegas. It's just you, you pay to play. And, and, and, and with that, the heart and soul of what Nashville is, is either gonna be displaced, it'll, even East Nashville is just on a.
A time clock of when that stadium's finished and they've already started the switcheroo. There was nice tree line, little streets and everything. Now they're four way, you know, get traffic in and outta that stadium. Uh, so all that's, you know, the gentrification doesn't get it then, then the stadium will.
And [00:48:00] so then where, where does the music go? I mean, you got little places, you know, and music industry's changed. I mean, music row's not music row anymore.
Um, but to answer your question, it's just gonna be more glass structures and towers, we call 'em tombstones.
Spencer Patton: So, Tom, as we're wrapping, what is important for you from here?
Tom Morales: Well, I think the city. Needs a vision. And it, and it needs to be wrapped around, uh, who we are.
Music City. There was a time where we were embarrassed to be Music city 'cause it was grandpa and you know, people that if you saw Chet Atkins, you were okay with it. But, you know, cran Jones or Minnie Pearl, you were like, oh God. Uh, so, so I think having a vision, and, and you know who's done a really good job is Doug Reland at the airport.
He has, you know, a one year, he has a six month vision, a one year vision, a five year, 10 year, 50 years. He goes out a hundred years. And if any [00:49:00] key decision is being made and that, that, that alters that vision, then you have a, you know, a. A discussion and, and if, if, if we keep the long-term view of things, that to me, for any great city is important diversity.
And I don't mean just in, in, in, in nationalities and colors. I mean diversity of, of your, uh, your businesses, you know, a little boot shop or a little pawn shop or a little music venue. They contribute just as much as some big glassy structure. So I, I think a vision is where, and advocacy, I mean, and then advocate for that vision.
Mm-hmm. And, uh, so those are the two things that I think are really missing right now.
Spencer Patton: So, Tom, the way that we end each podcast is I've got, um, a couple questions to ask you. It has a fill in the blank at the end, uh, so you can finish it with a word or a short thought, but if you just repeat the prompt back to me and then fill it in.
Okay. Uh, just with whatever [00:50:00] comes to to mind. And some of these will, will, will be just kind of across the, uh, the board for you. Okay. Um, when I walk through the original Acme building today, I still see blank
Tom Morales: when I walk through the Acme building today, I still see much of the original structure as, uh, was.
Built in the 1880s, early nineties, you can still see the scale that they weighed the feed and seed you can you, the, the, there's an 88 foot beam that is, uh, American chestnut, which no longer exist. I, I, I see the, uh, repurposed wood on the bars from when we built the stairs for codes and the elevators. Uh, I, I see, uh, it was really a work of art to just maintain the, the interior of the building and exterior of the building, uh, so that people could experience it as it was.
Spencer Patton: If Nashville [00:51:00] loses its locally owned businesses, the city will lose blank.
Tom Morales: If Nashville loses its local businesses, the city will lose its soul. And the, and the, the reality of that is, is everyday people and their hospitality and their niceness and friendliness, uh, you can go to a lot of cities and you ask somebody for directions, they'll just turn and keep walking.
Nashville's always that place where people open their hands and try to help you, and, and I don't wanna see that go away.
Spencer Patton: Hmm. And last one. If you only try one thing, the next time you visit Acme, it has to be blank.
Tom Morales: If you only have one thing to try at Acme, I'm partial to the AHI tuna sandwich.
Spencer Patton: Spoken like a Destin man right there.
Going back to the roots. Tom, I really appreciate the time that you've spent with us here. The entrepreneurial life is [00:52:00] one that includes so many challenges that. Really do bridge political gaps, the whole divide.
And the reality is every entrepreneur is sitting in that spot. And for this issue that you've brought to light for taxes, this is way more than people that are just entrepreneurial. This is impacting people's livelihood, it's impacting the soul of the city. And I do appreciate that you've taken a stand here in that clearly the advocacy that you've wanted, you have not received.
And so going out to do so and do so in a way that has been measured and calculated. It's something that I appreciate. And so I can tell you from one entrepreneur to another, I wish you the most success in your [00:53:00] fight. And I hope that in the moments where you question is this all worth it, you'll have an encounter with somebody that will remind you that it is.
So keep up the good fight and thank you for advocating for our really good city.
Tom Morales: You know what keeps my sanity as an entrepreneur, I started with nothing and I may end up with nothing, but so is the cycle of life. You know, you start in diapers, you may end up in diapers. So, so I'm the, the struggle's not the part that bothers me, but to your point, the, the good people, I, I, I, they really lift me up.
Spencer Patton: Tom Morales, Acme Feed and Seed. Tomcat hospitality and a generation of entrepreneur [00:54:00] that is all to its own. I really enjoyed sitting with Tom because he's a guy that really came from obscurity, one of 10 kids, and trying to figure out what he wants to do with his life, to incredible success. Being on movie sets, being with the biggest stars, but keeping a hunger to continue to innovate, continue to have vision, and that's what Tom has had his whole life is vision.
And so sitting in a spot where we heard Tom very passionately articulate the things that are hurting his heart right now. About his city. Just gave me a moment to reflect that. I heard a lot of pain [00:55:00] in his answers and as an entrepreneur that has sometimes been in that seat, I can particularly appreciate the back against the wall feeling that he expressed today.
Carli Patton: I really appreciate his authenticity and candor in this conversation for a couple of reasons. One, I think if it something bad just happened to him, he would take his licks and move on. You know, I don't, he doesn't strike me as a whiner. He strikes me as the kind of guy that has been through ups and downs and done really hard things, like he's capable of hard things.
I think it's seeing. A community of people being harmed in this particular situation that is, is bringing him out, swinging. And so that's one distinction I see for where his heart is. And two, I think it comes down truly to a [00:56:00] fundamental debate that Tennesseans have to have is what do we want? The crown jewel of the state of Tennessee is Nashville Music City.
Like it or not. There's really great places across the state that do really interesting things. But Nashville is Nashville. It's unique internationally for what it is. What do we want Nashville to be in 5, 10, 15, 50 years? And I think what's really tricky, you and I have interviewed politicians, we're politically active.
I have no problem with that. But when there's a churn in leadership, often a long-term vision gets lost. At the necessity of getting the next vote and staying in office in the next round. And I think what he's trying to say is, Hey, I've been here before, current leadership. I will hopefully be here after current leadership, but I really need a vision for what this means for business owners.
And do I have a part in where Nashville's going and, and I really think that's what he was fighting for [00:57:00] passionately.
Spencer Patton: I can also hear a cry from him who is an excellent strategist. A lot of entrepreneurs are, and he sees government actors, including Mayor O'Connell, who he personally support, supported and endorsed make in his view, really poor strategic decisions, poor messaging, poor calculations.
And I think he hit the nail on the head when. He acknowledged that he feels betrayed.
Carli Patton: Yeah. Wouldn't anybody in his position, like what? And we talk all the time about the most important leadership is local small leadership. Everyone wants to talk about the big splashy stuff. But when you forget to have the conversation with the small business owner or the mom and [00:58:00] pop or the family that's struggling, I understand calendars and logistics and schedules and that there are big jobs, but like when, when you're too good to have those conversations, it seems like you lose sight of why you're doing it to begin with.
