Amoeba LA to close?

Discussion in 'Music, Movie and Hardware Store Guide' started by zakyfarms, Sep 12, 2016.

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  1. StevenC

    StevenC SUEDE > Both Oasis AND Blur.

  2. MikeyH

    MikeyH Stamper King

    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    No, it's not bad. Marc is much better at the business side than (Rasputin) Ken, who continues to operate on 'throw it up and see if it sticks'.

    I haven't been to the new Berkeley Amoeba yet, and I never entered Mad Monk (It's now relegated to the Clearance Store, 50c silver discs in the thousands) but the drug side Hi Times is definitely open.

    There's no reason for Mad Monk not to have been a roaring success, but it felt just like an extension of the group, same advertising, same attitude. Just another crappy Rasputin store. The building still looks fabulous from the street though. With vision, coulda been a contendah.
     
  3. StevenC

    StevenC SUEDE > Both Oasis AND Blur.

    Rasputin stinks with its embarrassing booty dvds section and clueless buyers. I bought this massive Smiths boxed set at Amoeba a few years ago. Same year, I bought the Beatles Mono box online. I had a big collection of Blur CDs and Oasis CDs that I replaced with deluxe versions. I went to Rasputin and took back all of the entire catalog of all of these bands. For everything, including titles like Hatful of Hollow and Louder than Bombs, and every Beatle title including Anthologies and the blue and red double albums, they offered me $2.00 in cash, $3.10 in trade. Total.
     
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  4. Marc Perman

    Marc Perman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    SixOClockBoos likes this.
  5. SixOClockBoos

    SixOClockBoos The Man On The Flaming Pie

    Well maybe they can give up that T-shirt aisle in their 15% less retail space plan. I really do hope that they don't stay closed for too long. I think they'll be moving stuff back and forth between locations before officially closing down the current store. Maybe this might mean more future sales.
     
  6. pdenny

    pdenny 22-Year SHTV Participation Trophy Recipient

    Location:
    Hawthorne CA
    Just a couple of cardboard boxes on the stage. Lots of great titles (a few dupes) and decent pricing imo. In fact I picked up the MFSL HONKY CHATEAU for $30 :agree:
     
    jhm likes this.
  7. My prediction - music will take a quick backseat to the pot dispensary operation.
     
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  8. StevenC

    StevenC SUEDE > Both Oasis AND Blur.

    Whatever keeps it open is fine by me. If I can still have Amoeba to buy my records from, I don't care how many goofs will say "They're only afloat because of the pot dispensary"... who the hell cares? whatever the reason, I'll take it!
     
    MikeyH likes this.
  9. MikeyH

    MikeyH Stamper King

    Location:
    Berkeley, CA
    One of the things I've not seen here is a huge increase in customers for said green stuff since the new openings (we now have six town dispensaries, all providing off-prescription weed). The consumption on the street seems the same as before. There are still risks like being done by the feds, or being raided by criminals looking for product and/or cash. Though statistically, you're probably less safe in the Apple store. There's a couple of local bills trying to put some sort of banking in place for the licensed providers, but that's still a way off. It'll be a year or more before any tax results show.

    Maybe it's time to go take a looky.
     
    Last edited: Jun 17, 2018
  10. Unless more and more floor space and employees get shifted to the dispensary. Time will tell. But they’ll follow whichever is more profitable.
     
  11. StevenC

    StevenC SUEDE > Both Oasis AND Blur.

    it's fine... this dispensary has been in the San Fran store since day 1 and the record store is still booming. The funny thing is: people cannot seem to figure out that the world doesn't necessarily subscribe to the way they do things.

    Example: "people are streaming and downloading." When I go to Amoeba, many, many people are carrying baskets of records, CDs, criterion blu-rays, music DVDs. There is still is huge market for it in California.
    Best Buy is stopping carrying music? Target isn't carrying music? F --- 'em! The stuff I listen to was never carried at their crappy stores anyway.

    Another example: "I can go down the street and get loads of records for cheaper". Again, not everyone on planet earth is looking for the cheapest records. Some want quality, and imports. Like me. Like my friends.

    Finally, there's a band called Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever. They make great records. SubPop had the first 1,000 copies of the new record on colored vinyl. They call it the "Loser Edition". Whether or not you have heard of them or like it or hate it, 1000 records sold out in a couple of days.

    I "get" business. I am a business person. They will gravitate towards what is profitable, sure.... but the music is still profitable and the San Francisco and Berkeley stores have had their dispensaries... it's nothing new; the LA store is just late to the game.
     
    jhm likes this.
  12. mBen989

    mBen989 Senior Member

    Location:
    Scranton, PA
    Da funk?
     
  13. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    [QUOTE="StevenC, post: 18915568, member: 39052"
    Best Buy is stopping carrying music? Target isn't carrying music? F --- 'em! The stuff I listen to was never carried at their crappy stores anyway.[/QUOTE]

    That is easily one of the best lines from a post that I have read on this forum (and believe me, I've been around here for a LONG time!)
     
  14. Chris C

    Chris C Music was my first love and it will be my last!

    Location:
    Ohio
    I almost forgot to post that I'm VERY happy that Amoeba will hopefully continue in Hollywood and I wish Marc and the other owner(s) the best in doing so. I absolutely hate to stream music, as it just gives me no real pleasure, outside of previewing a new album or an artist that I'm unfamiliar with. Do my walls and otherwise normal open space in my house suffer from this want and need of physical CD's and LP's near me at all times, well sure, but without all of that $hit, my house just becomes ANOTHER house. This house is MY house and it rocks, smoothes, hillbillies, bubblegums, Stones, Beatles, Sinatra's and swings from 1923 to 2018, like NO other house that I've ever been in and I'm lucky to be able to still say that, as I realize that it's easy to just chuck it all and just take on a streaming unit, a pre-paid subscription and stream it all from my couch. Another friend of mine basically just did that and I kind of feel sorry for him, as a list of song titles and artists to me is basically just a larger than life "iPod", right.
     
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  15. kwadguy

    kwadguy Senior Member

    Location:
    Cambridge, MA
    There have been various Rasputin extensions over the years. They had a soul/jazz store down the street from the Rock store for many years. They also had another storefront that was only clearance/schlock stuff, and that lasted a couple of years. Rasputins itself has moved around on Telegraph a number of times.

    Ken, the guy who owns Rasputin's, is a piece of work. Good thing for him, his prime years didn't coincide with the #metoo movement...
     
  16. groundharp

    groundharp Maybe your friends think I'm just a stranger

    Location:
    California Day
    Amoeba has underground parking. Why didn't you park there?

    Perhaps the only record store in the world where you can drive into the building, park, and come up into the store without having to step outside! No idea what they charge, but perhaps it's free with a purchase?
     
  17. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    There is tons of large retail spaces vacant in and around Hollywood. Especially if they want a fixer-upper type thing, there are some deals. I would think anything that's been sitting vacant for 4 to 8 years is going to be priced ok. I could be wrong about that, but I have seen the empty store fronts sadly sitting year after year. The timing is right to snap up another decent size lot off the main drag.
     
  18. Marc Perman

    Marc Perman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Underground parking at Amoeba is free.
     
  19. SixOClockBoos

    SixOClockBoos The Man On The Flaming Pie

    Underground parking is free. They also validate for the big parking structure on Ivar for 2 hours with a purchase.
     
  20. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I have a friend that used the Amoeba lot just south of the store. Came out and the oval Toyota logo had been ripped from his car trunk hood.

    I could go on about the assaults and rape in the area and lot next door, but I think we all agree it's not so hot an area, not safe at night.
     
  21. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Not unless the purchase reaches a certain dollar amount. My friend got a surprise at the exit gate when they did not accept his sales receipt with validation because he spent under $25 or whatever it was.

    Life is not getting any easier and Hollywood is a mean mean place.
     
  22. SixOClockBoos

    SixOClockBoos The Man On The Flaming Pie

    That's strange. I tried parking there to walk around Hollywood and then stop to shop at Amoeba. I must've spent a little over $10 and I was able to leave from the parking lot without having to pay for anything. Again, I entered and left the structure within two hours.
     
  23. quicksrt

    quicksrt Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    Maybe my friend left out the part about staying over 2 hours?

    I have a text message in to him on the details. I want to know too how he shopped and still got rejected.
     
  24. Chris Desjardin

    Chris Desjardin Senior Member

    Location:
    Ware, MA
    Takes a lot of nerve to offer you that. Pretty insulting, and a total ripoff! I'm all for leaving a fair profit margin for the store, but this was crazy!
     
  25. Which Rasputin’s? Sounds like the buyer didn’t know what the hell he was doing or maybe he did and was trying to rip you off.
     
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