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Record stores on "life-support"

wizargoz

wizargoz

Super Member
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this article spells trouble for vinyl stores:

http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/112438/5-industries-on-life-support

"Record Stores

Record stores, van Beeck says, are a "sad story" hard hit by changes in how their customers now find, buy and listen to music. There may still be a strong, core following for traditional vinyl, but many shops haven't found a way to expand beyond that niche.

The industry saw revenue plummet 76.3% since 2000, to about $2 billion. IBISWorld expects the bad news to get worse as they lose nearly another 40% by 2016.

Van Beeck says record stores are a case study in not adapting nimbly enough to changing times.

Bookstores, which bear conceptual similarities to record stores, are themselves in rough shape these days -- with the once giant Borders (NYSE: BGP - News) now in bankruptcy. Their declines weren't substantial enough to make the cut of his ranking, van Beeck says. In fact, they may offer some hindsight into what record stores could have done -- creating a more customer-friendly environment with cafes and a more diverse inventory."
 
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wizargoz said:
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this article spells trouble for vinyl stores:

http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/112438/5-industries-on-life-support

"Record Stores

Record stores, van Beeck says, are a "sad story" hard hit by changes in how their customers now find, buy and listen to music. There may still be a strong, core following for traditional vinyl, but many shops haven't found a way to expand beyond that niche.

The industry saw revenue plummet 76.3% since 2000, to about $2 billion. IBISWorld expects the bad news to get worse as they lose nearly another 40% by 2016.

Van Beeck says record stores are a case study in not adapting nimbly enough to changing times.

Bookstores, which bear conceptual similarities to record stores, are themselves in rough shape these days -- with the once giant Borders (NYSE: BGP - News) now in bankruptcy. Their declines weren't substantial enough to make the cut of his ranking, van Beeck says. In fact, they may offer some hindsight into what record stores could have done -- creating a more customer-friendly environment with cafes and a more diverse inventory."
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Can't speak for the brick and mortar utility record stores, but the vinyl only places in Austin are doing very well.
 
this is exactly why i do not purchase vinyl from online stores. sure, its cheaper. but what if i want to browse some old records for a couple bucks? or buy a record on a complete whim?

LONG LIVE BRICK AND MORTAR RECORD STORES!

plus, the guy in the shop knows what i like and tells me if there is any new stuff that i will want to check out. :thmbsp:
 
Maybe as a whole, but all I know is that every time I go into Rasputin's in San Francisco or the East Bay, the place has at least 50 customers and sometimes 20 in line...If they aren't making money they are simply incompetent.
 
Sadly, I'm sure many record stores are struggling but I also think they are starting to come back again. In a city near my Grandma's house in Wisconsin, a new record store was opened because of the recent increase in demand for them. I was glad to hear this news. I really enjoy visiting a dedicated record store.
 
Tom Brennan said:
Young people are fickle and prone to short lived enthusiasms. Fixed gear bikes will propably outlast LPs in their attention span.
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I guess that mean I'll have to sell all my vinyl and gear at the end of this week, to get in on the next fad. Thanks for informing me on how I'm suppose to act being a modern young fickle person.
 
Vintage_Hi-F said:
I guess that mean I'll have to sell all my vinyl and gear at the end of this week, to get in on the next fad.
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You don't have to do anything. My noting that young people are fickle need not determine your behavior.

Vintage_Hi-F said:
Thanks for informing me on how I'm suppose to act being a modern young fickle person.
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Well since you think my observation should guide your behavior I'm glad to provide such guidance. My pleasure.
 
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My local vinyl-only store is doing just fine, partly because I spend half my free time there. :)
 
record stores here in Chicago are bumpin' as well. You wouldn't even find any of the classic LP's in stock in most of the stores. I can't even remember the last time I saw an original "The Queen is Dead" or "Zeppelin IV" in any of the record stores i regular.
 
mr.chen said:
record stores here in Chicago are bumpin' as well. You wouldn't even find any of the classic LP's in stock in most of the stores. I can't even remember the last time I saw an original "The Queen is Dead" or "Zeppelin IV" in any of the record stores i regular.
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I've been on a quest for the first Black Oak Arkansas record, you know, the one with "Uncle 'Lijah".

While as yet unfullfilled I did find a really nice West Side Story soundtrack at Let's Boogie on south Halsted in Bridgeport and a nice Madonna "True Blue" at that rather mediocre record store on Madison by Wabash. But Iwan Ries cigar shop is right over there and is a favorite place to smoke a stogie and shoot the bull with the other reprobates who hang around there.
 
I don't think the one record store in my town is doing well but the record swap meets I go to are boomin'.
 
Albuquerque has a great used record store ( Charlies ) but if I want new vinyl I have to order online. I've been using mostly Acoustic Sounds because they have excellent customer service and know how to pack and ship vinyl. If we had a store in town that had Acoustic's selections than I would buy locally. I don't think Chad's business is hurting back in Salina.
 
Tom Brennan said:
I've been on a quest for the first Black Oak Arkansas record, you know, the one with "Uncle 'Lijah".

While as yet unfullfilled I did find a really nice West Side Story soundtrack at Let's Boogie on south Halsted in Bridgeport and a nice Madonna "True Blue" at that rather mediocre record store on Madison by Wabash. But Iwan Ries cigar shop is right over there and is a favorite place to smoke a stogie and shoot the bull with the other reprobates who hang around there.
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You're talking about Reckless Records. they have 3 locations (one in wicker park, and one in lakeview), and an awesome online database.

try reckless.com and you can search for anything that they have in store, and they can hold it under your name for a week


edit: looks like they have the record you're looking for, http://www.reckless.com/index.php?R...at=LP&cond=&store=&is_search=true&srch=Search

third from the top?
 
Enthusiasm for quality is hard to suppress. Young people are smarter than old people in any case, from my experience, and I am old now. They mostly all dislike the bad quality of the audio experience they have inherited from the corporate consumer product pushers of recent memory and any of them who have discovered the quality of older audio gear are profoundly impressed with it, that I know of. The experience we have all had with LP format recordings has been tempered by the ease of damage to the vinyl and the experience we have all had with the digital format has been one of promise and enjoyment. The best use of both is to use digital recording and amplify it with vintage amps and speakers. The vinyl is past its day as a way of mass marketing new recordings. But it remains valuable as a library of old recordings, and only a turntable will play those. Audiophiles young and old cannot do without one.
 
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