2007: What record stores didn't make it this year?
Swayze
14,705 Posts
this is a RIP to the record shops that went under this year. I know of a few. I'm guessing you know others.Name some and what you think the downfall was to them.It's a tough game out there.
Comments
Most of the shops I've seen go under in the last 10 years hadn't really been keeping the lights on with records for a while... they were making money on used CD's, videos, etc... which were selling really well through the 90's. Places that have half a clue seem to still be doing pretty well.
RIP. It was a great store run by a great group of dudes (including some of the best DJs in the city)
Yeah, same for CA. As much as I kinda hated both I do sorta miss them.
Virgin Megastore still exists in downtown San Fran.
first time i went in there like 5 years ago--and made a couple of trips out there each year. i wondered why they weren't already closed my first time there. it was almost always dead when i went in.
i pulled out a lot of heat there. but the majority of the good stuff belonged to another guy -- and was on consignment. they would rotate or add stock occasionally.
i cannot tell you how much i am bummed that (at a much poorer time--a few years back) i passed on a har you percussion group lp for 20 bucks. cover was a bit tattered and was a library copy, but vinyl was nice--and i would have purchased it--but i was making like 50 bucks a week during my college days--so i figured "next time" -- and the next time i went--it was gone!
there was a bunch of cds--that were sitting there for years and years. not much new stock. lp wise, it looks like he had stopped ordering stuff the last few years--and you had oop commercial titles from the 90s still sealed there. he also had old late 80s/early 90s cd longboxes there still sealed.
the owner was nice--kind of an old hippie guy. he already had in his mind that he was going to close up this year. he got a job and moved to florida a couple of months ago
his problem was probably a combination of not being able to keep up with current trends, not purchasing collections, as well as having a tough time being able to support such a thing in a small town.
i have to say--that store made it fun for me to go out to central pa. a couple of times a year. i usually enjoyed the roadtrips.
oh well...time to move on.
yeah Tower died in Memphis, but it was good as we got a shit ton of their racks for pennies!
when they opened almost 2 years ago--i made a thread about the store complete with photos. being friends for years-- i wanted the best for his (mark's) venture.
it seemed like the spot blew up for a bit. i know many a weekend record purchase was picked up from ny strutters there! but--like many things in williamsburg that aren't on bedford ave. ---things don't last too long.
location is a big deal there. it seems like people that visit wburg tend to just stick to bedford ave and go to the shops there--even if just a few minute walk from the bustle of bedford ave--it seems like a majority of the shops are struggling.
that said, i think once they realized that the location wasn't the most ideal-- they needed to compensate that by trying to do something about advertising their shop to more people. they had some decent prices and some things that were priced a bit too high. but usually, pretty on point and folks that went there know they got some hot deals here and there.
they just had a half off sale and sold off the rest of the inventory.
they are moving to turkey in a couple of months.
definitely will be missed--- the best of luck to them.
Very sad to hear that, ran into Phil and Chris downtown last month and they seemed optimistic....that sucks. Where can you find new 12"s in DC now? I heard Sabin's in SE is done with 12"s, and Mad T's is gone as of this year too.
SMASH didn't make it thru 2007 either, RIP. Bobby was just about the nicest dealer in DC, but the Georgetown foot traffic just didn't do it for a record store anymore.
Although technically it closed in 06, one that got me was Eastside Records, which was on Hillhurst in Los Feliz, which had been there forever in a prime location to be the most successful sub-Amoeba store in the city, but instead was always lame in a quaint way. About a year ago some dude took over and renamed it CDMUSIC.COM or some such shit. When they were closing nine months later he told me he'd only bought the store to "get inventory" for his warehouse of mail order music, but it seemed so haphazard that it had to be a tax thing. I miss Eastside though, Eastside was funny, surly dude at the counter with the all teen girl staff thing going on, occasional large mint collections from fastidious freaks, I found a lot of heat in the dollar bins over the years and went there ever since 95. Actually in terms of nostalgia I already miss this place more than Arons, but not as much as Super Pops.
Maaan...that place was a landmark! All those afternoons walking down the Ave., checking in there, and buying nothing have ultimately taken their toll. R.I.P.
SMASH is alive, it just moved to Adam's Morgan:
2314 18th ST NW 2nd Floor
Washington, DC 20009
www.smashrecords.com
Really? That's awful! Sorry for the late pass, I just saw this this morning.
When I worked at Groove Distribution, they were my best customer. I wish I had a chance to make it out there. Those guys were all gentlemen and scholars, and some of the only ones really holding it down for vinyl. Wow. I hope they find some way to stay in the game. They deserve it.
Myth busted. DJ Hut will be reopening!