Last/Best cd store in Knoxville closing -The Disc Exchange

Disc Exchange in south Knoxville to close permanently »

Disc Exchange says last day in business will be Oct. 1 »

Unbelievably sad day for me. I remember almost 25 years ago when this store opened in a huge store. They were so successful that they opened up a second store on the other side of town.

A few years ago, the second store shut down, but I never thought I'd see this day. They had a huge new and used section, and the selection was excellent.

I'm terribly sad

 

I was one of the Disc Exchange's first customers when it opened back in 1987. I watched it grow into the best CD/Record store in Knoxville and possibly the entire Southeast. The staff went out of their way to find what you wanted and were very knowledgeable regarding all musical genres. At it's peak, the Disc Exchange was the place to go if you loved music, whether you wanted to buy or hear it live; the Foo Fighters were among the many artists that played there. Record Store Day events were phenomenal. However, you could see the decline during the past few years. The closing of their second store, the decline in inventory and the staff cutbacks even though they did their best to hold on to as many employees as they could. The store overcame a lot of challenges over the years, but in the end digital downloading and streaming took away too much of their business and one of the co owners just got tired of fighting so many battles to keep the store open. Those of us in Knoxville and surrounding areas who value physical product will basically now have to get it online from Amazon, Burning Shed, CD Universe, etc. It's just not the same as walking into a store where you can browse, converse with great people and pick up what you want right then and there without risking it being lost or damaged in the postal service. I'm sure that our other forum members would have loved the Disc Exchange as well. I share your sadness.

 

Correction: got my dates mixed up. Started shopping there in 1988, not 1987, so I guess my classification drops from one of their "first" customers to an "early" customer .

 

I was an early customer, but not as early as you. I completely agree with everything that you said. Although I lived 60 miles away, for many years I never went to Knoxville that I didn't drop in and browse for a while. I have to be honest, in recent years, I found myself at McKay's much more frequently than the Disc Exchange. In recent years, I always had my wife and kids with me, and they would browse books and video games while I cd shopped. Also, the biggest reason was because of the scratched cd section where I've bought dozens of cds for 92 cents each. I think Disc Exchange could have done well doing this same thing. I've found many jewels in that section, and never get one that doesn't play.

Having said this, I suppose I'm guilty of helping their demise as well.

 

Same here. I guess I'll see you at McKay's.