It was 1930 when the Jim Reed Chevrolet Company was granted a charter of incorporation by the state of Tennessee, and we've been serving the transportation needs of Middle Tennessee ever since.

Jim Reed Jr., the founder of the company, grew up in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. His father, Jim Reed, owned and operated a hardware store. While learning his sales skills in his father's store, Jim Jr.'s attention was diverted from hardware to automobiles when his father brought home Murfreesboro's very first car, a Model T. Jim Reed Jr. relocated to Nashville in the early 1900's to sell automobiles. With a bank loan, a childhood success selling hardware and recent auto selling experience, he opened the first Jim Reed Chevrolet Company at 1223 Broadway. The year was 1917.

During his first year as Nashville's only Chevrolet dealer, Jim Reed Jr. sold 500 cars. Jim Reed Jr. sold Chevrolets on Broadway until about 1921, when he gave up the Chevrolet dealership to sell Studebakers instead. In 1930, he went back to Chevrolet, and the Jim Reed Chevrolet Company was incorporated with it's present organization.

THE WAR YEARS...

...forced Jim Reed Chevrolet Company to modify it's operations. No cars were built from 1940 to 1945 because automobile factories were used to produce war supplies. This left Jim Reed's glass-windowed showrooms barren. Because of this, the entire parts department was moved into the showroom. The effect was something like a large supermarket made up of rows and rows of auto parts.

Both Jim Reed, Jr. and his son Jim Reed III served in the military during World War II. But army service did not prevent Jim Reed, Jr. from tending to business matters. Throughout the war he would buy used cars near his base and send them to Jim Reed Chevrolet for reconditioning and resale. With Reed's ingenuity, the company was able to make a reasonable profit - even without new cars!

AFTER THE WAR...

...the Jim Reed Chevrolet Company began an era of expansion. New cars were back in showrooms by 1946. The building at 1512 Broadway became exclusively a parts operation, thus making Jim Reed Chevrolet one of the first dealerships nationally to devote an entire building to parts.

Lots and houses were bought along 15th Avenue and Hays Street. In 1947, a structure was attached to the Hays Street building to accommodate grease racks and an area for servicing new cars and trucks. Steel tresses replaced the old wooden posts in the Hayes Street garage in 1950.

Along with the facility expansions came the additions of other automobile franchises. In 1971, Subaru was acquired. In 1984 came Isuzu. In 1995, Jim Reed opened the Broadway Motor Car Company at 1600 Broadway.

TODAY...

...Jim Reed Chevrolet Company occupies almost 600,000 square feet along Broadway, 15th Avenue, 16th Avenue and Hays Street. It represents a family tradition that has lived for three generations. Jim Reed, Jr. stayed actively involved in business affairs until days before his death in 1978. His son, Jim Reed III joined the company after World War II and became it's president in 1956. With the addition of Jim Reed IV to the company in 1975 and John Reed in 1988, the Jim Reed family is poised to continue to serve the automotive needs of it's customers into the next millennium.

If you would like to come in and visit our vehicle showroom, or take a Subaru for a test drive, click here for our hours and directions.