I think in a few more years every record store will be gone, including the mom and pop shops.
Im not sure whats worse, being in the coffee business and trying to compete with Starbucks OR owning a record shop and trying to compete with the big chain stores like Best Buy or Wallmart. Whats even more damaging to record stores is a lot of artists are selling their new albums ONLY AT WALLMART, that is the only place you can find their new music. Take ACDC's new album that will be out in a few months. THe only place you will be able to buy ACDC's new album is Wallmart. Same with the Eagles new material and Journeys new album. Talk about putting the nail in the coffin, to the already struggeling record stores.
Call me Crazy, but I would much rather go to an interesting record store and purchase a cd than get it for free on the internet. Ever since I was a kid I LOVED going into record stores like Tower Records and just browse at all the music they had. Its too bad thats a thing of the past.
I see Record Stores like Every Day music and Sam Goody and I often wonder how they are surviving and actually making money, since most people download their music.

When I lived in San Francisco, there was a specialty record shop that catered to a very specific genre – namely electronic music. I think much of their clientele were club dj’s and the like. I’m sure if the demand for such music on vinyl continues, record stores like the one near my former residence will continue to draw a loyal following.

I disagree Talpdx- Music millenium had a loyal following and they had to shut down their NW location store.

Northwest 23rd was, as Terry Courier put it, "a mall." His rent was insane and his customers were probably the same high maintenance people we always see along that now declining shopping district. Landlords thought that retailers could afford the moon, and now the street has a shaky future. Sad as the move was, Music Millenium is very much alive and well on East Burnside.

Yes, I dearly miss being able to pick up vinyl at Bird's Suite, Django's, The Ooze, Crocodile, Park Avenue, Singles Going Steady, Locals Only, Rockport, Vagabond, Roundhouse, Groundhog's, Dudley's, Ozone and Eeek! to name a few. We have lost many great record shops over the years.

Still, Music Millenium is going strong, Crossroads is often the source of a holy grail and Everyday Music has kept the tradition of cheap vinyl and CDs alive. Even smaller independent places like the longtime bedrock of downtown 2nd Avenue, or the worker owned Q is for Choir, or the Willamette Valley legend Green Noise, or charming little Mississippi, or the venerable Jackpot sitting in the hallowed former space of Bird's Suite have vinyl to browse.

The secret to keeping your favorite record store open is to shop there in small bites often. Like a charming diner, they count on regulars, so adopt a spot you love and nurture it. It sounds like a Depression era philosophy, but if you like a place, invest in it.

I don't necessarily disagree. But if you’re a retail seller and have a captive "niche" market which caters to a VERY specific genre of music -- and their customers are willing to spend the funds necessary to procure said product -- then you might have some luck. In the case of Music Millennium, they stocked a wide variety of music and were paying a premium to do it (i.e. rent on their location). But again, the same retail seller may use the internet or some other medium to move their product. Sadly, small brick and mortar operations are very expensive to operate because of all the overhead costs involved.

I agree about the costs. The secret to the longevity of the original Music Millenium is ownership of the building.

Otherwise, you bust your behind to get folks to come to a neighborhood, and deal with the thugs, bugs and shrugs. It takes a whole lot of investment and energy, but you still get it humming along in the black. Then, a group of usually passive property owners unite and keep wanting more and more as the street grows. These are often the same guys who were never around when there was a break-in, or the roof leaked, or the mice ate the corners off the records, or the restaurant next door had roaches, or a fire. Nope, with many property owners it is just a checkbook relationship. Do you want improvements? That comes out of your checkbook too.

Gentrification in our fair city is often a game where slumlords and shifty property owners make out with the most gain for the least pain.

In spite of it all, I say long live vinyl and little-hole-in-the-wall mom-and-pop outta-the-way places.

Let's not forget: 6th Avenue Records, Long Hair Music Faucet, Crystal Ship & Als' Records & Books.

I'm thinking CDs are going to carve a place in a business scheme yet invented. Sort of like how one used to make appointments to get an oil change at a service station now get it through a first come first served drive thru joint. Who would have thought?

You won't find me investing my dollars in anything to do with CD retailing though!

Perhaps a drive thru Electronic Media Entertainment center.

I really miss Django. Chrystalship. . .my first real job. So much fun to sell pipe parts to 12 year olds. . .

For What It's Worth.

You won't find me investing my dollars in anything to do with CD retailing though!


You're right skep, I mean who wants to support their favorite band by purchasing their albums instead of illegally downloading them. Sheesh!

I download from Itunes. I will never set foot into a record store again.

Nine Inch Nails recently released their new cd for free by the way.

There are a few hoops to jump thru to get it but its free.

It's really sad to watch video advance to higher definition while audio devolves to a point where highly lossy compressed MP3's and AAC's threaten the viability of the compact disc medium which allows for uncompressed high definition digital audio to be archived as well as listened to. The unaware youth of today seem to be satisfied with lesser quality product, especially if they have never been exposed to higher fidelity sound. The line may be shifting with higher sampling rates for AAC available on line, but the explosion of typical MP3's which offer frequency response about as good as FM radio (MP3 160/AAC 128) really don't sound as good as uncompressed AIFF (CD native). MP3 320 or better yet AAC 256 exceed FM response, but still fall short of true CD quality. What the lower quality compressed formats do offer is fantastic signal/noise ratio, which makes them sound clean albeit there's sound missing from the original full response master from which they were made.

Soooooo .... CD's will survive until the next generation of consumer affordable archiving medium comes along.

Speaking as a collector, MP3s have no more collectable value than a pixelated picture of a prized antique.

Cover art and liner notes are your friends.