N.B. Goods warehouse destroyed by Madison tornado
MADISON, Tenn. (WKRN) — Saturday, Dec. 9, started as one of the biggest events for Camille Alston’s business, N.B. Goods. The “gender-neutral, nostalgia-driven brand specializing in accessories, apparel, and gifts” was set up at Porter Flea, the large semi-annual market set up at the Nashville Fairgrounds, when all vendors and attendees got word that a tornado was headed through town.
“Once it passed over Porter Flea, and I got word that our home in Madison was safe, I kind of put it out of my mind,” Alston told News 2.
Soon enough, however, she’d receive word from a friend and fellow small business owner that not everything was all right.
“I got a call from my friends at Bad Luck Burger Club,” she said. “They park their food truck in the back of our warehouse, and they were there at an event close by and came by, and they called me and said, ‘Hey, do you know what’s going on with your warehouse?’ And I said, ‘No, but I think from the tone of your voice I can tell.'”
MORE: Tennessee Tornado Outbreak
She and another small business friend, Allison Holley, owner of Apple and Oak, Nashville’s “go to shop for pretty things and dirty words,” rode up to their respective warehouses in the Northgate Business Park in Madison on Myatt Drive, to find their livelihoods in tatters.
In the light of day, there is a gaping hole where the roof of the warehouse building once was. The tornado that ripped through Madison, killing three people—including a 2-year-old boy—ripped the roof off about three-quarters of the building, directly over the majority of Alston’s inventory. What was left inside is covered with rubble and millions of tiny pieces of insulation. Boxes of trucker hats, clothing and tote bags ready for custom screen printing, keychain rings, stickers and more cover the floor of the 2,000-square-foot space, essentially none of it salvageable.
“Our inventory was literally right under the section of the roof that tore off, so everything just got completely soaked, and then we had some freezing temperatures over the last couple of days,” she said. “Yesterday I came in, and some of the beanies were actually frozen solid.”
More than 48 hours after the fact, Alston said she has to laugh at the absurdity of the situation.
“In these situations, it’s done. There’s nothing I can do. I’ve come in and saved what I could, and I’ll be doing some more of that today and throughout the week, but otherwise, if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry, I think,” she said.
Most of what she’s been able to save has been large pieces of furniture, including custom-built wooden shelves and tables.
How to help those impacted by the deadly Tennessee tornadoes
While the storm took out the lion’s share of her inventory, Alston said there is some good that happened: because she was at Porter Flea with things to sell, she didn’t have 100% of her inventory stored away, so she still has some things that can be sold. There is also some unsold and undamaged inventory at her storefront in East Nashville, in the Shops at Porter East.
The rest of the unharmed inventory will be sold off this weekend, Alston said, at a special year-end sales event.
“We’re going to do this big event on Saturday,” she said. “Hopefully a lot of people from the community come out, even just to say, ‘Hi,’ and kind of be around each other, and hopefully [we’ll] sell off what we’ve got left and keep ourselves afloat and try really, really hard to be back as soon as we can.”
The event will take place Saturday at the N.B. Goods storefront, located at 725 Porter Road, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can come by and buy a customized oversized tote for $38 with unlimited letters, as well as just leave a tip for the team.
Beyond that, Alston said she’ll start looking for a new space to house her inventory and try to come back better than she was in 2024.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
