Record Time (Detroit independent music store) to close

Discussion in 'Music, Movie and Hardware Store Guide' started by GroovinGarrett, Nov 10, 2010.

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  1. krlpuretone

    krlpuretone Forum Resident

    Location:
    Grantham, NH
    8.500 square feet = can't even fathom the overhead on that type of retail space.
     
  2. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    Another independent store in the Detroit area, Street Corner Music, relocated last year. They went from a storefront that was quite a bit smaller than 8500 square feet to a shoebox. I much prefer the old location, but at least they're still alive and kicking (for now).
     
  3. krlpuretone

    krlpuretone Forum Resident

    Location:
    Grantham, NH
    Well that's what I mean...store size/cost containment is a huge issue.

    the margins on CDs haven't changed since the 1980s + new vinyl is pretty much in the same category, yet still unreturnable.

    Everybody knows hard copy sales are down, while just standard retail things like utilities, inbound shipping costs, insurance and employees go up every year.

    When I bought my first store in 1999, for example, my electricity bill was $89/month and the phone about $35 + heat in winter was about $115...when I closed that location in 2009 the electric bill had hit as high as $600 in the winter, the gas bill was $345 and phone/internet was $105.
     
  4. jfmlaugh

    jfmlaugh Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michigan, US
    Hope Jeff made a ton of money so he can retire. Loved Desirable Discs - bought many many things there. He really was responsible for a ton of my Monkees original and import catalog.
     
  5. readr

    readr Forum Resident

    That store has always been a crap pile. Even when they were down the street, next to the taxidermy place -- creeped me out every time. Still, I always seemed to find something in there, but you had to really look -- really disoraganized. Record Time was always the most organized. The best oldies store, for me, is Melodies & Memories. Car City is great for vinyl, but I've gotten away from that. I hope Record Time will be able to re-locate into a smaller location and be able to continue with less overhead. The continuing theme with most of these places is disorganization and inventory control, clutter. I'm in Produce, but I wouldn't sell Tomatoes in my Apple section. I would also consider having all CD's by one artists in one place, organized by genre, seperated by new and used. Maybe they want to keep you in there, looking, but it just doesn't work anymore, not with the competition of the internet and Google, which makes it much easier to find what you need.
     
  6. trumpetplayer

    trumpetplayer Senior Member

    Location:
    michigan
    agreed!
     
  7. trumpetplayer

    trumpetplayer Senior Member

    Location:
    michigan
    I spent a ton a Desirable Discs in the earlier 90's.
     
  8. xyyyy

    xyyyy Forum Resident

    A few of my favorite record shops in the metro area for both organization and selection are; UHF (Royal Oak), Stormy Records (Dearborn), Wazoo (Ann Arbor) and Underground Sounds (Ann Arbor).
     
  9. Store square footage is much too big for todays market. It's the same in Toronto at the flagship HMV. a lot of racks with a couple of cds and a bunch of blank cases behind. I expect it to go within a couple of years.

    I went to Record Time years ago, but once Amazon came on the scene, why bother? I can get almost anything I want online, don't have to fight the traffic, or waste gas, plus the cds are cheaper. That is why a lot of these stores are going down, both the demographics and the way people shop has changed in the last decade.
     
  10. MBERGHAU

    MBERGHAU New Member

    Dearborn Music is probably the best remaining, well stocked "record store" in the Detroit Area. That's the only store where It still feels normal from a shopping perspective (i.e. like in the old days). All the other stores (Car city, record time, Hot hits, Melodies and Memories, Stormy records, etc.) seem to be very niche dusty old stores with not too many customers. I love those stores, don't get me wrong. It is just a different shopping experience. Dearborn Music has done well keeping up with the times and keeping their store fresh.
     
  11. art

    art Senior Member

    Location:
    520
    Record Time is reopening next year at a much smaller location....
     
  12. art

    art Senior Member

    Location:
    520
    More than 5K a month.
     
  13. GroovinGarrett

    GroovinGarrett Mrs. Stately's Garden Thread Starter

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    I hope so. The article states "there's a possibility of moving Record Time to another location or operating the store online. Those decisions will be made in the future, after he extracts the operation from its current situation."
     
  14. GroovinGarrett

    GroovinGarrett Mrs. Stately's Garden Thread Starter

    Location:
    Atlanta, GA
    Last time I was there, it was mostly used video games. A mess.

    Melodies and Memories is doing the eBay route as well: http://stores.ebay.com/Melodies-and-Memories-music-outlet
     
  15. Runt

    Runt Senior Member

    Location:
    Motor City
    Still, it's nice to have the best of both worlds. I shop a lot online, too, but have always tried to stop by a local independent every now then. I hear ya about gas and traffic, though...especially here in SE Michigan, where we have a dysfunctional, totally 1950's era infrastructure that's in a constant state of crumbling and repair. Really pathetic. A major hassle to get just about anywhere around here. :realmad:
     
  16. I always knew when I was leaving Wayne County, I didn't need to keep swerving to avoid potholes and you didn't feel like you were driving on a rollercoaster. I don't remember a time that I-94 wasn't ripped up from Port Huron down to I-696. :shake:
     
  17. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    Wazoo is terrible for a CD collector because they only have the booklets in the bins. Sure, it saves space, but it's too much of a hassle for me to shop there.
     
  18. Runt

    Runt Senior Member

    Location:
    Motor City
    Yeah. And our version of mass transit? Smelly, black-smoke-spewing old buses right out of the '50s. Unbelievable. And they wonder why nobody wants to live here...anyway, sorry for the off-topic rant.
     
  19. ShawnX

    ShawnX Forum Resident

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    I think this is true of many stores. I understand why they want to do it, but all the "interesting" items are gone - under the desk or in the back room - sitting and sitting. It's a shame.
     
  20. ellaguru

    ellaguru Forum Resident

    Location:
    Milan
    i find myself spending more time at encore but spending more $$ at PJ's...
     
  21. motorcitydave

    motorcitydave Enlightened Rogue In Memoriam

    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV, USA
    Ok, cool. Thanks. You do? Why? :D
     
  22. xyyyy

    xyyyy Forum Resident

  23. motorcitydave

    motorcitydave Enlightened Rogue In Memoriam

    Location:
    Las Vegas, NV, USA
    I see. Well, I'll be back up there sometime or another. Bet on it.
     
  24. KeithH

    KeithH Success With Honor...then and now

    Location:
    Beaver Stadium
    I love Encore by virtue of the sheer volume they have, but I also hate how they store CDs. I've never been to another store that stores jewel cases on the shelves without the disc trays. Many back inserts get trashed that way. Also, because they stack discs in trays in drawers behind the counter, it is common to find discs with scratches on the label side. They know enough to charge a premium for rare discs, but then they treat them like crap. :rolleyes:
     
  25. smokeverbs

    smokeverbs Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit, MI, USA
    Where is DJ Overdose these days?
     
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