Jack and Jill Nut Shop A
~story and photos by Paige Langenderfer
s her father began the day’s chores, the smell of warm, roasting nuts instantly took Kamady Lewis back to her childhood and the countless memories she made in the back room of her family’s business, the Jack and Jill Nut Shop. “I basically grew up back there,” said Lewis, 35. “I had a bean bag chair, a VHS player, and all of my art supplies. What else does a girl need?” Kamady’s dad and store owner, Marc Rudd, also warmly recalls those memories. He even still displays several of Kamady’s works of art on the store walls. “She made a new masterpiece just about every day,” Marc said. “She walked around town like she owned the place.” Leslie Rudd, Marc’s dad, opened Jack and Jill Nut Shop in 1967 to offer roasted nuts, fudge, and candy to tourists visiting Nashville. The store has been at the same location, at 78 South Van Buren Street, for 54 years. “Grandpa had worked in a nut factory for many years, and that is what sparked the idea,” Kamady said.
36 Our Brown County • Nov./Dec. 2021
“Everyone always asks us who Jack and Jill are, but the name actually came from a store my grandma worked at when she was young. She always liked the name and asked grandpa if he would name the store Jack and Jill Nut Shop.” In 1986, Leslie suffered a stroke and was not able to continue managing the store. Marc had worked alongside his dad in the store and had always hoped to take over the business one day, but the stroke moved up the timeline without warning. “It was very sudden and I hadn’t learned as much as I would have liked about running the business, but I learned,” Marc said. “In all these years, the only thing I have changed was adding a few new types of candy.” This past summer, Kamady and her husband Ronnie Lewis decided to keep the business in the family and joined Marc as co-owners. While she is extremely excited about the future, Kamady said the little girl who played in the back of the store never imagined she would ever take over the nut shop. “It just wasn’t something I really ever thought about,” Kamady said. “I had always dreamt of covering
