The oldest business on Beale Street is for sale.

A. Schwab, a general store operating on the street since 1876, is on the market and is listed with Slovis & Associates LLC.

It and the Old Daisy theater are the only two parcels in the three-block entertainment district between Fourth and Second Streets not owned by the city of Memphis.

The Old Daisy is owned by Beale Street Development Corp., the non-profit entity the city established in the 1970s as the city’s middleman between it and the developer of the district.

Schwab, which is at 163 and 165 Beale Street, is owned by Le Sel Corp.

The sale of the store comes as the Wharton administration is preparing a game plan for the next step in the history and development of the entertainment district.

The store survived the dark days of urban renewal in the late 1960s and early 1970s when much of the rest of the street was turned over to the city and some buildings were either demolished or fenced off.

The renovated Beale Street district opened in the fall of 1983 with Schwab continuing to sell sundry items as it had for decades before along with tourist items.

Beale Street developers had tried over the years to talk the store owners into staying open into the night without any luck.