A Nashville Family Business Since 1987
For nearly four decades, the Richards family has helped organizations in Nashville and Middle Tennessee protect information that could hurt them in the wrong hands.
Where We Started
Steve Richards was introduced to the records-management industry while living in Atlanta, and he saw a path home to Nashville to build something of his own. With a small loan from Bowman’s grandmother, the family leased its first building, on Third Avenue in downtown Nashville, in 1987. It was a family startup from day one: Steve led sales, Jerry Richards Jr. ran operations, and Jane handled invoicing and the back office.
Our first customers were downtown law firms paying high-rise rents to store business records. Richards & Richards became their off-site file room. An early investment in barcode-tracking software let us account for every box while much of the industry still relied on index cards and handwritten notes. That growth earned a place on the Inc. 500 list of the fastest-growing privately owned U.S. companies in 1994.
From Records to Secure Destruction
Shredding began in the early 1990s with one small machine that took 30 to 45 minutes to destroy a single box. As customers trusted us with more, we invested in industrial equipment. One of the large shredders we still run today was purchased for a single customer’s 60,000-box project.
In 2018, the family sold its records-management, scanning, data-protection and media-storage operations to Vital Records Control. Bowman kept the shredding and destruction business. Today Richards & Richards provides secure shredding, hard drive and media destruction, electronics recycling and product destruction for businesses throughout Nashville and Middle Tennessee.
Tested, and Shaped by It
In 1998, a fire affected more than 100,000 boxes in our care. We were open with our customers about what happened and invested heavily in recovering records, and our people kept the company running through the recovery. That experience still shapes how seriously we take every box, drive and container we’re trusted with.
Leadership Today
Bowman Richards grew up in the business, sweeping warehouse floors, riding on trucks and feeding the shredder during school breaks. He joined full-time in 2008, working alongside Steve in sales, and became president of Richards & Richards in 2018 when his parents retired. He has served on the board of i-SIGMA, the association behind NAID AAA Certification, including a term as president, and is currently its Treasurer.
“Family-owned means accountability is personal. Richards is literally our name.” (Bowman Richards)
Richards & Richards Today
- More than 2,500 customer locations served
- NAID AAA Certified by i-SIGMA
- Serving Nashville and Middle Tennessee, from Jackson to Crossville and north to Hopkinsville, KY
What Hasn’t Changed
We’ve grown from records storage into an industrial secure-destruction company, but family ownership, local accessibility and personal accountability are still at the center of the business. When you call, you reach local people who can make decisions.
