Shopping Around | Spread Market & Larder
Wherein Alex Kelly shares the story behind the store that's a Germantown classic in the making
My friend George Krauth is one of those stylishly intuitive men who can smell cool in the air. If there’s a new store worth shopping or restaurant worth trying, he’s been. New boutique hotel concept? He’s got a room booked for next week. Great new indie magazine just came out? There’s a copy on his desk. He’s that guy. (I say that with love… and just a teeny bit of envy).
Even though George isn’t a full-time Nashvillian — his job with New City, the company behind Germantown’s Neuhoff District, finds him moving between the local site, their Atlanta HQ, and his home in New York — he still sometimes manages to know about new Nashville hot spots before I do. Sometimes.
So of course, it was George last fall who turned me on to Spread, the charming independent market and bakery on Germantown’s 5th Avenue North. A few months in, it had become one of his go-to neighborhood lunch spots, with its rotating grab-and-go menu of two cold sandwiches a day (one meat, one vegetarian — think innovative combinations like bacon, giardiniera, and jalapeno Havarti), top-notch bakery originating from a multi-generational sourdough starter, broad curation of hip but really tasty market items, and thoughtful selection of wines.
Spread can take you from daybreak to nightfall, with fan-favorite cinnamon rolls coming out of the oven in the morning, the aforementioned sandie situation and other small bites from the well-stocked cooler for lunch (grab a beer, too), and take-and-bake pizza or steak and vino for dinner. A year old this month, Spread has become a solid go-to for Germantownies (is that a word? It is now) with a taste for tinned fish, chili crisp, and baguettes straight from the oven.
I’d been to Spread several times before I realized that I knew one of the owners. Before Alex Kelly (nee Hendrickson) and her husband Chad opened Spread, she was a well-known local writer whom I’ve worked with in the past. Chad’s past gigs saw him managing and working in the kitchens of restaurants. That’s his gig at Spread, too, while Alex makes sure the shelves are full. (They have a very sweet met-cute story that Alex, who answered my questions for the couple, describes below.)
I knew that this interview was fated when I ran into Chad and Alex literally seconds after I sent them a DM asking if they’d be in The Callaway Report. Alex and I hadn’t bumped into each other in years. It would have been weird if it weren’t so damn cool. That’s Nashville for you.
Without further ado, please enjoy my email interview with Alex, who gives a wonderfully honest account of what it’s like to open a business with the one you love, and how much joy the finished result brings the couple and so many others.
Congratulations on being a year old! It's a pretty stellar accomplishment to open and thrive during a quote-unquote recession. What's been the secret to Spread's success?
When we find out, we will let you know! But really, all the credit goes to our regulars and friends and family. The first year was built on word of mouth — and trust. People came, and they came back. We have had our stumbles along the way, and everyone has stayed loyal despite any bumps. As partners, our secret to success is blind optimism.
What was the impetus for opening Spread? Did you have an "aha!" moment or was it a longtime dream or goal?
It is impossible to identify the moment when Spread became more than a conversation of what-ifs. What if we had a place down the street to buy the makings of a good dinner? What if we learned more about wine? What if we had a place to share everything we love? What if we invested in Germantown? What if Chad could stay in food and bev without working restaurant hours? What if we created something long-lasting? What if we didn't have to travel to purchase these products we've fallen in love with?
The concept is built around sharing our favorite things with our favorite people. It makes us giggly to find something new, introduce it to friends, and see their reactions. Pour us a glass of wine and ask us the story of our favorite tinned fish. Come over for dinner and give Chad the opportunity to describe the wine-making process and the tasting notes of his favorite wine. Really, you'd be doing us a favor.
Eventually, we ran out of friends to tell these things to, so we opened a market.
Spread took on many iterations during the dreaming stage, and it's so lovely to see the shape it has taken. Initially, we had big plans of opening a wine bar and filling the space with people in that way. Tennessee liquor laws squashed that dream (you can't sell wine by the bottle for retail in the same place you sell it by the glass), and it's for the better. Now, it's a place we love, filled with things we love. You can take these things home and tell your friends about them.
What did you each do before you did this?
Chad's background is in restaurants as an owner and chef. My background is in editorial content writing, focusing on storytelling and small businesses in Nashville. And that is what brought us together. When Chad opened his first restaurant, I interviewed him for an article.
Spread wouldn't be what it is without the sourdough, which Chad has been perfecting for a number of years in restaurants. Moreover, the most influential and helpful aspect of our experience was our desire to promote cool brands and connect with people.
Spread is a good-looking store: plenty of space, lots of light, wood floors, high ceilings, fireplaces. It's like walking into someone's awesome home that just happens to stock your favorite tinned fish. What was your goal with the design?
I must point out how cool it is to hear someone describe the space in a way that fully matches our intentions.
It was always our want to create a welcoming space that smells like fresh bread. The wood floors and the beadboard in the front of the market were intact, so it was important for us to maintain those aspects. We also reworked and moved a lot of the doorways to avoid throwing out any historical features of the house. My dear friend Alexandra Morris gave us a lot of really good advice on the design. She picked out the light fixtures and guided us on colors and finishes. We also had some friends make the tables and the shelves in the wine room.
It still feels like a work in progress. When you come back, a table might be moved or art might be added, or shelving might change. It stems from never being satisfied and always seeing ways to make things better.
I know this is a really old house. What's its back story?
The house was built in the 1920s, and it was previously a not-very-noticeable shade of maroon. Our neighbors down the street owned the house for a long time, and they rented it to various people. Before we got our hands on it, it belonged to a guy who had hopes of opening an art gallery in the space. We lived there, too, briefly. I was very pregnant, and we lived out of boxes for three months. It sounds lovely and romantic, doesn't it? We didn't think so at the time.
I read that there was a major renovation involved. And any good surprise (trying not to say horror — ha!) stories about the process?
Overall, it was a two-and-a-half-year process from when we started looking for a space until we opened. We never considered another neighborhood, so it took a lot of patience and pestering before we found a place in Germantown. Let's just say we were pretty clueless about renovation. It was a running joke that now we know what to do the next time we renovate a historic home into a market. It took a lot for us to step back and let other people make decisions, and that is something I would do from the get-go next time. It's nice to have opinions that don't come with the same level of emotion and care.
The project manager and I got off on the wrong foot, but we were buds by the end. Renovating a house while planning a business and having a baby doesn't make for the smoothest of rides, but we took everything in stride.
What’s the story of the piece of art over the fireplace in the "wine room"? I love it!
The artist is Ty Williams, and we fell in love with his work by way of one of our favorite products: Woon Hot Sauce. As a friend of the brand, he did the branding and the interior artwork at their LA restaurant. He ran a limited-edition print of the piece hanging at Spread, and we feel lucky to have scooped it up. The title is Waiting on the Olives, which should probably make you love it more.
I love a good mascot. Yours seems to be a floating duck, which is just adorable. I also spotted an owl. Who did your design?
Cleo DeLaney gave a piece of her heart and amazingly creative mind to Spread. I fell in love with Cleo freshman year of college, and it was a treat to have her develop our branding. Working with friends is not easy, but she has stuck with us.
Sam Crosby is another cool part of the story. He created an alternative logo for us, and he designed the art on our tote bags.
OMG — the mix! It's so original but very accessible. I try to keep up with what’s new in the food world, so I recognized most of the types of products on the shelves, but there were also a lot of new-to-me brands.
The shelves are stocked with products that we were already buying for ourselves. Our cabinets don't look unlike the shelves at Spread. Putting together our initial list of products was the most fun I've ever had. To be able to bring these cool products by cool people to Nashville is incredible. And don't get me wrong, I still have fun, but you never forget your first loves.
Before we carried Fishwife, I would order it by the dozen. And we were the first in town to carry them. Graza was just making its way around social media as the cool kid's olive oil, and we stock it. Chad would grab a jar of Lusty Monk mustard every time he went to Asheville, so that was a must-carry. I fell in love with the branding and story of Woon, so we brought them to Nashville. I bought into Courtside's branding before I knew the product was good, and we couldn't keep it in the cooler for the first six months because customers were buying it by the armful.
Folks in town carry local products, and they do that well. It was always our intention to source products that were harder to find in the area. Now, when we go to California or New York or Spain, we don't have to pack our suitcases quite as full as we once did.
The wine selection seems to be the perfect size — and you carry NA wines and beers, much to my delight. How big is the entire selection?
Chad is the wine guy, and his palette is unmatched. I will drink a new wine and say, hey, what am I tasting? A typical response might be, oh, you are probably getting notes of salt and lemon that remind you of your childhood lemonade stand. He has selected 65-70 bottles; a handful are unique to us. Just like everything else, the selection is made up of what we love and we drink at home.
You recently started a wine club. What makes it unique?
Two things: the selection and the tasting notes and pairing suggestions. Each pack comes with a card telling you about the wine and how you might enjoy it. The pairing pack (my favorite option) includes a bottle of wine and a pantry item. It's another way for us to share what we love and help you take the conversation about these products into your own home. While we are writing the cards, our main objective is to leave you with a fun fact you can tell your friends. It's our way of inserting ourselves into your next dinner party.
I hear that you are both keen on helping shoppers figure out how to get the most out of their product, talking to them about usage and offering up recipes. Do you guys cook at home a lot?
I passionately, wholeheartedly love not cooking. Assembling snacks (into a spread) is my strong suit and my biggest qualifier for this job. Chad is always cooking, but don't ask him for an exact recipe because he is of the mindset that the longer it takes and the more complicated it is, the better it tastes — and, really, he isn't wrong. Chunky salads and avocado toast are two things he makes almost daily. Both topped with KariKari Garlic Chili Crisp.
Let’s say someone forces your hand: what are you going to make?
Most often, I eat hummus with tinned fish and hot sauce or chili crisp. I've been perfecting my paella for bigger groups, and my new trick is stuffing it with tinned fish at the end.
OK – imagine I walk in off the street looking for a complete lunch, as in a main, side, drink, and light dessert. What do you suggest I get?
The easy answer is a daily sandwich, Maypop sparkling water, a side of olives, and a cinnamon roll. The more exciting answer is a baguette, tin of fish, jar of cultured butter, bag of vinegar chips, Kolsvart Swedish fish, and a bottle of Manoir du Kinkiz Cidre (or in your case, a Parch Spiced Piñarita).
Any plans for events? I would think this would be a great place for a dinner party!
Molly Peach gave us the honor of hosting her rehearsal dinner at Spread. As a friend, she has supported us since day one, and I don't trust anyone else to photograph the space. It was incredibly special to see the market transform in celebration of two great pals. Still, scraping plates, putting it all back together, and cleaning up afterward reminded us that we aren't eager to get into the event business. Never say never, but we aren't planning to host any events at the moment. If you want to rent the space and your own cleaning crew, maybe we could chat.
Spread Superlatives
The Four most popular items in the store:
Kolsvart Swedish Fish
Graza Olive Oil
Fishwife Tinned Fish
Chili crisps
Three most popular wines:
Molino a Vento Carricante
Es Okay Red Blend
Il Mostro “Ragana” Bianco Frizzante
Three best-selling bakery/prepared food items
Cinnamon rolls
Sourdough loaf
Herb cheese
Alex’s Favorite
Please don't make me pick only one. I couldn't live without Hummus Chick, but it makes my toes tingle to think about eating Woon Mama's Way Hot Sauce.
Chad’s Favorite
KariKari Garlic Chili Crisp
Spread
1330 5th Avenue North
Germantown
Wednesday 11-4
Thursday - Saturday 11-6
Sunday 11-4
Instagram: @spreadmarket
George told me about Spread, too! It is now on my “must visit” list every time I go to Nashville. Thank you for this piece - new things to try next time.