Has DC seen its last indie record store?

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

You have the car, now all you need are directions to Soundgarden.
 
 

Originally posted by redsock:
  Ok, so DCCD is gone, the local stores suck...what are we gonna do about it? We can bitch and moan, or we can try to change things. No, I'm the first to admit, I don't have a clue as to where one starts. But you need money, and a business plan.
 
 I have a car, does that help?

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

Personally, I love the sad state of DC record shops. They help me to save money for more important things.
 
    My trips to Soundgarden and CDepot are limited, so quite naturally I don't spend as much as I would if they were right next door. I do go to two CD Game Exchanges and shop the dollar racks. Get some good stuff, and sell some of it to Soundgarden or CDepot at a 300-500% profit.
 
    Thus, the amount I spend on music is pretty minimal. Woohoo!

[Medusa]

ggw wrote re CD Cellar:
 
 > I never walk out of there with less than five CDs.
 
 A brilliant store!  If I could get out there more often I would   , but naturally I would spend spend spend.  
 
 Re: Off The Record in San Diego.  Another cool place!  I recall spending way too much in there as well.  A cool shop to find 3" CD's (Depeche Mode and Nitzer Ebb among ones I scored - of course, those aren't indie, though).  
 
 Wherever an indie shop opens in D.C./if it eventually happens I will make the trek!
 
 Cheers
 
 DJ Medusa.

[markie]

I dont think a small record store is a viable business, that is why so many have closed.
 
 you would be much better off opening a bar or a fru fru gift shoppe, especially the later on the Ust corridor. Its moving up in the world..... How many Starbucks and expensive condos?

[ggw]

Originally posted by redsock:
  Ok, so DCCD is gone, the local stores suck...what are we gonna do about it? We can bitch and moan, or we can try to change things. No, I'm the first to admit, I don't have a clue as to where one starts. But you need money, and a business plan.
 
 I have a car, does that help?

Well sonick can probably help with some new release inventory (nudge, nudge, wink, wink).

[markie]

Originally posted by Medusa:
   A cool shop to find 3" CD's (Depeche Mode and Nitzer Ebb among ones I scored - of course, those aren't indie, though).    
 
 

Are the dpeche mode CDs on MUTE?

[bellenseb]

Which venues in Pittsburgh are closing? I lived there in 2000 when Milvale was condemned...
 Quiet Storm? Club Cafe? Laga?

[Medusa]

Originally posted by mark e smith:
   

Originally posted by Medusa:
   A cool shop to find 3" CD's (Depeche Mode and Nitzer Ebb among ones I scored - of course, those aren't indie, though).      
 
 

Are the depeche mode CDs on MUTE? [/b]

Well, you're right - in my post I meant indie in terms of not as well-known (D.M. being *very* well-known) so thanks for correcting me - I've a habit of talking in riddles at times/not making myself too clear.  
 
 Cheers
 
 DJ Medusa.

[walkman]

you know, I never really had a problem with the DCCD staff...but then again, I'm a trendy young scenester, and I'd never buy anything Pitchfork gave less than an 8.5.
 
 truth is, DCCD just barely made the cut with its pricing and selection anyway.  Of course they were small - Amoeba in Berkeley is the absolute gold standard, and it's huge - and yet I love Other Music and Kim's in NY, Penguin and Rotate This in Toronto, the aforementioned Spaceboy in Philly etc etc etc...it's not impossible to run a small record store well.
 
 That being said, Revolution just ain't cutting it...the selection is terrible as of now, and I can't see it getting much better.  Cool space, though.

[jpbelmondo]

Very few bricks-and-mortar stores are making money on CDs right now.  Olsson's makes money on books.  Tower is in bankruptcy.  Kemp Mill closed down most of its stores.  Any retailer will tell you that it's not if, but when (most say 5-7 yrs.), before all bricks-and-mortar stores are gone.  DCCD was just barely breaking even, which isn't really motivation to keep a business going.  Factors for the demise of retail include shitty records (but when has this not been true?), high prices (which are largely set by the labels, not the stores), online stores, big box (Best Buy, et al.) stores selling at below cost as loss leaders, and, above all, filetrading (the other DCCD is at a SUNY campus where there are no other record stores, and on some days there would be 0 sales), but the basic fact is that fewer and fewer people are buying CDs.  Lowering prices (which, again, is really up to the labels, since most retailers only tack on $2-5 above their wholesale price) might help a little, but I don't think it will bring kids into stores to buy stuff they can get elsewhere for free.

[mankie]

I don't think $19 for a cd is expensive at all, when you consider what you get...I mean $19 is two cans of boddies at the 930 and 20 minutes later you're peeing it out...GONE!~
 
 Some people pay $25+ for a book that you tend to read once, cd's you play over and over...I say 'some' because have you noticed how many people sit around in B&N reading a book for an hour then walk out empty handed? That would piss me off if I ran a book store. It's like all the asians that hang out in the Starbucks next to B&N in Rockville, they get a glass of water, or if they want to splash out, a small coffee, then sit at a table for hours on end with their study books, while cash-paying customers can't find a seat after shelling out $5+ for a milky cup of something....off tangent rant there for a mo'...anyway, $19 for a cd isn't too bad if you put it in perspective.

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

$19 aint much if you're a middle age guy buying 10 cd's a year of reissues from early 80's lp's.
 
 Different story if you're a 20something trendy pullin in 30K a year and need to buy every freaking album pitchfork tells you you need to own.

[Bags]

Originally posted by jpbelmondo:
  Very few bricks-and-mortar stores are making money on CDs right now.  Olsson's makes money on books.  

And Olsson's Metro Center is closed!

[Bags]

Originally posted by mankie:
 Some people pay $25+ for a book that you tend to read once, cd's you play over and over...

Mank, my dad was in the book business.  You don't want to know how few people buy hardback books m(it's less than 5% of the population; I'm tempted to say 2% buy two or more hardcovers in a year, but that may be a stale figure).  
 
 And nearly all of the independent bookstores outside of major cities have gone out of business as well (that was my dad's business, selling to independents).  It's the same as the record stores -- the Barnes & Nobles, Borders, Wal-Marts forced them out.  And this was *before* online sales got so prevalent.  And you can't, for the most part, 'download' books for free.
 
 What I fear is that, while I'm 36 and still buy plenty of CDs, I'm a dying breed.  [Even in my early 20s, making $23K, I bought two to four CDs a month.]  I don't have much interaction with teenagers, but I have a feeling that downloading is second nature so that, except for the rare must have, buying a CD seems just ludicrous.

[mankie]

Originally posted by Rutherford J. Balls:
  $19 aint much if you're a middle age guy buying 10 cd's a year of reissues from early 80's lp's.
 
 Different story if you're a 20something trendy pullin in 30K a year and need to buy every freaking album pitchfork tells you you need to own.

If the 20'something crowd owned only 5 pairs of $120+ sneakers and $80 jeans made to look like a homeless bloke threw them out, and saved that $5 latte for just a Sunday treat.....I'm sure they could afford to buy a few $19 cd's now and again.