Why are so many record stores still closing?

Maybe, but every time I hit Amoeba SF I see fewer sifting through used than I do at the much smaller Easy Street in Seattle. They seem to have a better selection in used than SF. Haven't been to Amoeba LA in about two years. .

 

When I was a teenager, radio was a significant driver of my music acquisitions. Sadly, with the consolidation of radio ownership here in the US, playlists today are robotic, limited, and have no real personality to them, and I think that has damaged record stores mightily. Other "diseases" of the records store include urban rents, e-commerce, insurance and all the atomization of culture that took a big bite out of book stores, too.

Lately, I have basically given up on retail music shopping in NYC, and either order directly from labels (e.g., Numero Group, Merge, Sub Pop, etc.) or, yes, Amazon. It isn't a pretty landscape, but I am so pleased other cities have Amoeba, the Princeton Record Exchange, and a few other legendary shops that still exist.

 

The store looks completely dead. Was it closed when the photo was taken?

 

There maybe 30 or so people in it Thursday 11Am.

 

This counter shows the amount of stores that have opened or closed since this thread started:

 

And how many opened ?

 

Same amount, I guess it can be read either way.

 

I picked up a mono first pressing UK Pepper XEX 637 - 1, XEX 638 - 1 at a local record store a few months ago. I must have gotten there a few minutes before you.

 

There doing something right, whenever I go in there, there's always lots of activity! CD's, Vinyl, Movies, Books, all kinds of nic/naks.

 

There are now only about eight bins total of used LPs at the Hollywood Amoeba, half in front and half toward the back. This is a fraction of what you'll find at the much better (for used vinyl) LA stores like Freakbeat, Atomic, Gimme Gimme and Soundsations, and a fraction of what Amoeba carried until just a few years ago.

 

Those are new arrival bins, not the main bins that mix new and used in each genre.

 

Right but the main bins have scarcely any used left anymore, at this point the main bins are 98% new.

 

Must be a very lucky coincidence, very rare in NYC these days. Usually, when I'm record shopping, I can hit sometimes 6-7 record stores at the same day and still not to find anything worth buying.

 

I would actually like to open a small store. I have an idea that might work and the dfw market has been supporting record stores. Around 5 or so have opened and they seem to be doing well and that is on top of the two great ones we already have in Forever Young and Good records. Not to mention the plethora of half price books.

Used prices have have gone crazy here. I used to be able to walk in and buy used records in decent shapes for 3.99. Now everything is being sold like its got some value other than listening and enjoying the music.

I would like to open a place that keeps used records around 5 dollars and have an idea for the store I think could work. My wife wants to kill me when I bring it up.

 

I'm 37 years old. I got out of the Vinyl game last year after collecting for a few years. First of all, I couldn't stand the lack of QC of new pressings. I was then overwhelmed by the amount of space they took up. I then didn't like the culture. I didn't agree with RSD and having to stand in line for hours for something. I couldn't stand those who got the RSD releases would then gouge the prices on ebay. I went ahead and sold everything to another collector on Craigslist for just under 5k and got myself a nice HD setup and have been buying music in FLAC-HD and I don't regret one bit of it. I loved going out to the local stores and searching for used Vinyl, but the culture and myself just didn't get along.

 

With all the store closings in recent years, NYC has to be the most underserved music-buying city in the country. The handful of decent stores, like Academy and Captured Tracks in Greenpoint, can't possible keep up with demand, and good titles are snapped up almost instantly.

 

Because of things like this.

Consumers Now Required To Seek Treasury Department Approval On All Purchases Over $50 »

 

Here in Peterborough, there used to be four record shops, Andy's Records, HMV, Our Price and Virgin Megastore. Sadly, HMV is the only one remaining and I wonder how they're managing as it's empty during the week.

 

My point all along. No numbers,just stories(including mine). Retail like restaurants and hair/nail salons have some kind of credibility in numbers since there is an amount of safety regulation with those establishments. No one shuts down a used record store for the amount of nicotine dust and mildew escaping from a new box of records coming from Grandpa's basement,just as long as it ain't Grandpa. No one shuts down these places for an unhealthy amount of Streisand. Too much mono? That would be to the ear of the beholder. Greed? That's a big hidden one,but there is no W.C. Fields Law saying you must give a sucker an even break. Factors like unsavory location,bad leases,utilities,etc. can cause the demise of one location,just to see another spring up next month.
Comment 861,hoping to charge no more than five bucks for used product-that would last a half hour. Some schmuck brings in Dad's Beatle collection for drug money-offer 50 bucks for a thousand dollars of stuff that can be quickly turned over-that five buck promise flies out the door,as it should.

 

I think it was $5 on fairly ordinary records, not highly collectible ones. You know, $5 for Thriller, not the $15 I've heard mentioned on these forums.

 

well that is your opinion. I am not one of the people on the planet that looks to take advantage of others. Some records are worth more than 5 but within reason most used pressings are not.

At a local half price books I bought a Kiss asylum record in what I would say is vg+ shape but needed to be cleaned and paid 3.99 for it back in 2012. I have repeatedly seen Kiss Asylum and Lick it up records in the same building over the last two years priced 12 dollars or more. There is absolutely no need for that.

Some used records do have a little bit higher used value but most do not. There is no reason to gouge people and I believe in it as a principal and think it would bring people in as long as inventory could be kept up.

If you believe in this philosophy fine I do not and I think it would bring enjoyment to the fun of searching and buying records.

 

While there is certainly a lot of "opinion" in this nasty thread,know that a place selling fifty dollar records for five bucks would attract a line of flippers as soon as the doors were unlocked. At thrift stores,if there is not someone with knowledge of value behind the scenes,know that there are guys making the daily rounds of these places pulling out the good stuff just as much as there are folks hangin' around the lottery machine five minutes before closing. For many, that is their main source of income. To quote the Geico announcer:It's what they do. They ain't punchin' a time clock,nor are they paying into the system-you know,a system that makes it safer to roam around unsavory neighborhoods looking for those goodies,a system that keeps the roads in some kind of repair-time to get off my soapbox before trouble ensues. That pretend W.C. Fields law that I made up has its corollary: Never give a sucker an even break. If someone is standing in front of me at the register with a double sawbuck for the vinyl thrill of his life and wants no change,who am I to make his day less nice?

 

well there is your first problem You did not read what I said. I never said anything about selling a 50 dollar record for 5 dollars and honestly the fun in record shopping, for me anyway is finding affordable stuff and enjoying it.

This sinister world you are portraying where every single person who goes into a store is there with the intention to flip the product and make a killing is useful for your seemingly pointless rant at me. There are a lot of people like myself who would not charge the new to records kid or adult 17 dollars for a copy of huey lewis and the news sports album. That was my point and its how I would run a store if I ever am to open one. I want it to be fun and I want people to know they could come in and build their collection at an affordable price and not get ripped off.

I believe in that. If some guy comes in and buys a beat up copy of help from me for under 10 dollars and then sells it for 20 in the future he will be the one with the problem because no one would buy from him again.

You seem to have some other issues at the heart of this last post so with that comment I will say have a good one.

 

IMHO we can all make or break the culture thing. I just don't look at it that way but I'm 62 and have been buying records since I was 9.

Fortunately I have the room and live the hobby. I don't have a problem with sine defects in new vinyl. If it's a major issue I'll exchange it. There were always a % of bad pressings or mistakes but there were so many more copies pressed so we hardly noticed. Plus no internet for the mass collective bitching.

 

For the artist sections in rock, that might be true (bear in mind the white stickers with blue marker are sealed used copies). But the General letter sections are mostly used. On the other hand there are whole sections like Gospel and Jazz where the records are mostly used. The bottom line is lots of people deplete the used Doors and Black Sabbath records, but saying there's only 8 bins of used records in the whole store is quite false.