So This Really Is The End....


Hi All,

Just thought I'd take a minute to share. Since 1976, I've been a customer of a  record store in the University of Cincinnati area called Mole's Records. The store has been in existence for over forty five years. Tonight I've just come home from the party celebrating its final day. I'm sure the party is still happening but I decided to exit, as a flood of memories leaves me with the need to pause and reflect. Whenever I would catch a show at a small venue called Bogarts (Todd Rundgren, Butthole Surfers, Warren Zevon, etc...) I'd first stop in and B.S. with the owner. As a teenager, I never really had any money so I wasn't buying records or CD's until the mid 1980's but that was all -right by the owner and I know I was just one of many who would do the same thing. The store was small but they had a good distributor and I could buy boutique audiophile CD's and vinyl like; Audio Fidelity, MOFI, Analogue Productions, record store day releases, and used originals. If they didn't have it, then I could typically place an order and get it within a couple of weeks. My last purchase was the Analogue Productions Hybrid SACD of Steely Dan's 'Two Against Nature'. Great sounding mix by the way! Of course, we still have record stores in this relatively small mid-western town but Mole's was the oldest store still in existence. And I have to honestly say, I'm not exactly sure how these other record stores can financially make a go of it. I'm now at a place where I'm totally relying on  downloads, internet orders and Qobuz. Anyway, just feeling sentimental so thanks!

 

goofyfoot

  Yeah, the thread title had me ready to reach for the suicide hotline number.  To the OPs point, its sad, but lets face it, even with the vinyl resurgence physical media has been blown out of the water by streaming.  It's amazing to find any record stores.

So no one wishes to empathize with the poster that his favorite record store/hangout for the past 47 years is closing?  I sure have been bummed when local audio and record stores have shut down!  I still miss visiting Tower Records every time I was in New York, and the audio stores in NJ that are long gone.

I hate it that physical record stores have essentially disappeared. My record store job (Sound Warehouse!) paid for my undergrad degree. I have nothing but fond memories of that job and the years of selling music and talking to customers and employees about new and old bands. Met countless musicians, in store band promotions, free tickets to unknown bands, got in trouble for playing albums with explicit lyrics, watched CDs push vinyl out, and trends ebb and flow. I even met my wife in the store while working an evening shift! I love the convenience of streaming and on-line shopping, but it doesn’t come close to what we used to have in actual physical stores. 

 Our ET overlords are working towards a society where no one is allowed to leave their house. Groceries delivered, things delivered (by drones, of course), work at home, digital currency to make sure you're doing nothing naughty.

Were slowly converting from an animal paradigm to an insect paradigm. Ask anyone living in China.

 

 

Sorry you’re losing your local establishment. I still miss our local dive bar, which closed during the pandemic shutdowns. It had an incredible kitchen, a great shaded back patio, and low prices.

Two examples of the inevitability of change.

I hope you enjoy Qobuz as much as I do. It’s really wonderful to have immediate access to such a huge library.