i thank the lord my rent is cheap. labor costs, i've always made a point to pay people well that have worked for me. at least I hope they thought so. two of my former employees are on this board after all. they are the main cost for me.
the only way you justify it is to think the store is just your rotating collection. there are titles you love, you sell, you get again, you listen to, and sell again. Or maybe you just get to listen to them once. I've even gotten records back that I thought I'd never see again. When you really have a collection of 15,000 Lps, like I had, a lot of titles get unlistened to for long periods of time. It is almost better that they leave and come back. because you notice them, listen again, and love them.
Yo - I didn't mean "how could you let go?" I meant more...did you actually sit there, go through 15,000 LPs and decide "ok...need this...don't need this"? I'm just curious how long that took.
I have fun at times, great records flow through my hands, I have a good location for the rent, and I have my shop in a city that is good for selling records. I love what I do, but it is not for most people on this board. you wouldn't want to do it and you probably couldn't.
This is super true. what you, Neville, and Paychex have in common (having been fortunate enough to be friendly with all of you), is the gene that goes beyond 'collecting records', into something else. I joke around with Neville that he is a true vinyl junkie, his enthusiasm just never wanes, and his distractions are few even though he(like you and Paychex) are men of varied interests. I will be on the hunt for all kinds of flotsam and jetsam, records are one of my core things, but I get bored when shit is dry, and I love book hunting, antique hunting, etc etc. I couldn't do what you guys do and stay sane, let alone keep getting better at it. The focus is more important that a lot of other factors, and it's rarer and rarer to find. And it's what drives the knowledge that is so crucial in keeping the shops relevant, and not just crusty-dude hang outs.
it is crazy, you know. In my adult life I find I'm most consistently happy when you set me in front of thousands of records and I pull out the ones that are good or worth money. it is a strange zen place. i'm good at it. i get a rush from it. i get teased for it. it is some form of meditation. it isn't the only thing that makes me happy, i love my wife, my dogs, and my friends; and i still love to dj, but consistent happiness. ironically, i get to do it less now that i own a store. i'm chained behind the counter.
maybe things will change when i am lucky enough and become a father. that's the next level in my life.
the only way you justify it is to think the store is just your rotating collection. there are titles you love, you sell, you get again, you listen to, and sell again. Or maybe you just get to listen to them once. I've even gotten records back that I thought I'd never see again. When you really have a collection of 15,000 Lps, like I had, a lot of titles get unlistened to for long periods of time. It is almost better that they leave and come back. because you notice them, listen again, and love them.
Yo - I didn't mean "how could you let go?" I meant more...did you actually sit there, go through 15,000 LPs and decide "ok...need this...don't need this"? I'm just curious how long that took.
I dont have a shop but do the local markets regularly and do all right selling bread and butter records for A$10-15 (that i buy for $2) Doors led zep,stones,beatles etc anything rarer i tend to sell on ebay as most of my customers dont fork out more than $30 for an Lp. You can have fun fuckin with people though I had a guy come to my stall and ask me if i had a Beatles Butcher cover Lp. I acted kinda vague and uninformed and told him I think i had one in one of the crates at my stall. (1000 lps) It was funny watching him flip through all the records and then I told him that I remembered i sold it for $5 a few weeks ago.
You do need a constant supply of stock no matter what size your operation to keep your regular customers happy. I had had a very dry spell for the last few months lots of really old people ringing from my ad in the local paper trying to offload classical and Acker Bilk.
The main issue that is killing many shops is overheads (rent electricity etc) the one record shop that was relatively close to me closed down years ago as rent hit nearly $1000 a week. He ended up just selling online
I wouldn't own a shop but If I did I would have records as just one part of clothing, Cafe ,gallery etc. Diversification in our small area would be the only way to survive.
You would also need to have an online store as well (GeMM,Musicstack,ebay store) with buy it now stuff. If stock is sitting in your shop it might as well be on the net finding a home as well.
I have fun at times, great records flow through my hands, I have a good location for the rent, and I have my shop in a city that is good for selling records. I love what I do, but it is not for most people on this board. you wouldn't want to do it and you probably couldn't.
This is super true. what you, Neville, and Paychex have in common (having been fortunate enough to be friendly with all of you), is the gene that goes beyond 'collecting records', into something else. I joke around with Neville that he is a true vinyl junkie, his enthusiasm just never wanes, and his distractions are few even though he(like you and Paychex) are men of varied interests. I will be on the hunt for all kinds of flotsam and jetsam, records are one of my core things, but I get bored when shit is dry, and I love book hunting, antique hunting, etc etc. I couldn't do what you guys do and stay sane, let alone keep getting better at it. The focus is more important that a lot of other factors, and it's rarer and rarer to find. And it's what drives the knowledge that is so crucial in keeping the shops relevant, and not just crusty-dude hang outs.
it is crazy, you know. In my adult life I find I'm most consistently happy when you set me in front of thousands of records and I pull out the ones that are good or worth money. it is a strange zen place. i'm good at it. i get a rush from it. i get teased for it. it is some form of meditation. it isn't the only thing that makes me happy, i love my wife, my dogs, and my friends; and i still love to dj, but consistent happiness. ironically, i get to do it less now that i own a store. i'm chained behind the counter.
maybe things will change when i am lucky enough and become a father. that's the next level in my life.
I would love to come back soon, we'll see how this year pans out. Got a lot going on, trying to get life a bit more settled!
Life? Who needs life when theres records!?
Actually, Coolhands took me to places that had more than just records, which is how I love it. This was before his store was open, so I have a feeling that I missed the best shop in Austin by virtue of the fact that it had yet to open! I found a goldmine of onesheet posters at this one spot, unfortunately the lady wanted dealer-esque rates on even the most ridiculous films, so I just grabbed the necessities, nabbing a white whale of mine in the process:
You can have fun fuckin with people though I had a guy come to my stall and ask me if i had a Beatles Butcher cover Lp. I acted kinda vague and uninformed and told him I think i had one in one of the crates at my stall. (1000 lps) It was funny watching him flip through all the records and then I told him that I remembered i sold it for $5 a few weeks ago.
YOU ARE MY NEW HERO
HarveyCanal"a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts
As far as record store hybrids, PLAESE TO BRING BACK THE RECORD STORE/HEAD SHOP...I need some new feathered roach clips in my life.
1. Owning a record store - Don't do it![/b] 2. If you try to own your own record store, you need to front at least 13,000+ LPs (most of which should be the popular/standard fare, eg. Led Zep, Doors, peppered with raers for wall-hanging purposes). 3. Japanese collectros, while they may drop serious cash, also drop serious bombs (of the porcelain kind). 4. Random hot chicks still ride hard for FemRock and may drop some cash on some of that vinyl (on raer occasion) 5. Raer collectors do not equate to being good customers/buyer and in fact may be the bane of record store owners. 6. Segregating records by the standard "Rock/Soul/Pop" designation is simply not enough. 7. Owning a record store is long, arduous work, but it does have its rewards on raer occasion.
As far as record store hybrids, PLAESE TO BRING BACK THE RECORD STORE/HEAD SHOP...I need some new feathered roach clips in my life.
man , there was one in Fort Worth for a minute back 5 or 6 years ago, but it got shut down in the witchhunt that took down Tommy Chong...It was called Plant Utopia, scooped a bunch of cool records and Euro rolling papers raer on the regular..
I've worked at a store and I've owned a store, neither of which I do now. I would think the hardest part in all of that is the uncertainty of not having a fixed regular income, especially if a family is involved. I would assume (maybe incorrectly) that having a store in NY is easier to manage with the influx of tourists and a population of 10 million, but I guess with that you also have more competition and higher rent. Always wanted to re-open a store, tough to justify though..
just got an email from a japanese customer...one of the good reasons for being involved with a record store, here is a snippet:
I've been your shop about 8 years ago. Garage band play at front of your shop. Your shop is one of my favorite shop all around the world. I look forward to the record arrival soon.
Comments
i thank the lord my rent is cheap. labor costs, i've always made a point to pay people well that have worked for me. at least I hope they thought so. two of my former employees are on this board after all. they are the main cost for me.
Yo - I didn't mean "how could you let go?" I meant more...did you actually sit there, go through 15,000 LPs and decide "ok...need this...don't need this"? I'm just curious how long that took.
it is crazy, you know. In my adult life I find I'm most consistently happy when you set me in front of thousands of records and I pull out the ones that are good or worth money. it is a strange zen place. i'm good at it. i get a rush from it. i get teased for it. it is some form of meditation. it isn't the only thing that makes me happy, i love my wife, my dogs, and my friends; and i still love to dj, but consistent happiness. ironically, i get to do it less now that i own a store. i'm chained behind the counter.
maybe things will change when i am lucky enough and become a father. that's the next level in my life.
when are you coming back to Austin?
oh, about three weeks.
JP- you'll let us know when you get the Maybach? What does Moerer drive?
Enter Cryptic Response:
let us not forget, he doesn't have a store, he has an Empire.
You can have fun fuckin with people though I had a guy come to my stall and ask me if i had a Beatles Butcher cover Lp. I acted kinda vague and uninformed and told him I think i had one in one of the crates at my stall. (1000 lps) It was funny watching him flip through all the records and then I told him that I remembered i sold it for $5 a few weeks ago.
You do need a constant supply of stock no matter what size your operation to keep your regular customers happy. I had had a very dry spell for the last few months lots of really old people ringing from my ad in the local paper trying to offload classical and Acker Bilk.
The main issue that is killing many shops is overheads (rent electricity etc) the one record shop that was relatively close to me closed down years ago as rent hit nearly $1000 a week. He ended up just selling online
I wouldn't own a shop but If I did I would have records as just one part of clothing, Cafe ,gallery etc. Diversification in our small area would be the only way to survive.
You would also need to have an online store as well (GeMM,Musicstack,ebay store) with buy it now stuff. If stock is sitting in your shop it might as well be on the net finding a home as well.
TRUTH.
I would love to come back soon, we'll see how this year pans out. Got a lot going on, trying to get life a bit more settled!
Life? Who needs life when theres records!?
Actually, Coolhands took me to places that had more than just records, which is how I love it. This was before his store was open, so I have a feeling that I missed the best shop in Austin by virtue of the fact that it had yet to open! I found a goldmine of onesheet posters at this one spot, unfortunately the lady wanted dealer-esque rates on even the most ridiculous films, so I just grabbed the necessities, nabbing a white whale of mine in the process:
YOU ARE MY NEW HERO
1. Owning a record store - Don't do it![/b]
2. If you try to own your own record store, you need to front at least 13,000+ LPs (most of which should be the popular/standard fare, eg. Led Zep, Doors, peppered with raers for wall-hanging purposes).
3. Japanese collectros, while they may drop serious cash, also drop serious bombs (of the porcelain kind).
4. Random hot chicks still ride hard for FemRock and may drop some cash on some of that vinyl (on raer occasion)
5. Raer collectors do not equate to being good customers/buyer and in fact may be the bane of record store owners.
6. Segregating records by the standard "Rock/Soul/Pop" designation is simply not enough.
7. Owning a record store is long, arduous work, but it does have its rewards on raer occasion.
man , there was one in Fort Worth for a minute back 5 or 6 years ago, but it got shut down in the witchhunt that took down Tommy Chong...It was called Plant Utopia, scooped a bunch of cool records and Euro rolling papers raer on the regular..
I would think the hardest part in all of that is the uncertainty of not having a fixed regular income, especially if a family is involved.
I would assume (maybe incorrectly) that having a store in NY is easier to manage with the influx of tourists and a population of 10 million, but I guess with that you also have more competition and higher rent.
Always wanted to re-open a store, tough to justify though..
I've been your shop about 8 years ago.
Garage band play at front of your shop.
Your shop is one of my favorite shop all around the world.
I look forward to the record arrival soon.
All right
Regards,
T*kah***a