Has DC seen its last indie record store?

If I asked a question, the response was usually preceded by a heavy sigh – as in, "well, I suppose I could look it up and see if we have it. But that causes me soooo much trouble."

yeah I always found them to be elitist indie assholes - when I went in one day with my daughter I thought they were going to throw me out

Originally posted by bellenseb:
Probably no city outside NY or Chicago (or LA or SF) could support an amazing, huge store like Amoeba, but midsized cities like Pittsburgh (Paul's) and Milwaukee (Atomic) have fine indie shops.

pittsburgh also has dave's, eide's, another place in the south side and one in the north hills that i can't remember the names of. all superior to anything i've seen in dc. and there isn't a scene there at all. both of the two best venues are closing

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

There were a couple people who were bad at DCCD but I never had a problem when the owner was working.

It seems really hard to believe that D.C. doesn't have enough indie music fans to keep an big indie-friendly cd store running. I suppose the closest thing we have is CDepot in College Park. It would be great to have a place like CD Cellar (my favorite place to shop!) in D.C. I think there's two of them now in Northern Virgina…

Originally posted by bellenseb:
Which venues in Pittsburgh are closing? I lived there in 2000 when Milvale was condemned…
Quiet Storm? Club Cafe? Laga?

laga and rosebud. metropol doesn't have shows anymore, either. i lived there most of my life until 2002. so many tours skipped pittsburgh, but so many of the good ones came to laga or rosebud. i want to say quiet storm is no more, but i'm not sure. there is a new place in milvale and the rex has been having (bad) shows.

Originally posted by brennser:

If I asked a question, the response was usually preceded by a heavy sigh – as in, "well, I suppose I could look it up and see if we have it. But that causes me soooo much trouble."

yeah I always found them to be elitist indie assholes - when I went in one day with my daughter I thought they were going to throw me out

yeah, as much as i liked (or wanted to like) DCCD, the extremely standoffish manner of nearly everyone that worked there was a total deterrent. it's like you had to have some special connection to an employee to be given a smile and friendly conversation. no wonder they went out of business?

They were all always extra nice to me. :)

Just kidding. Actually, I prefer stores with standoffish clerks.

"Can I help you with something?"

Actually, no, you can't. I know my alphabet, so I think I'll be able to figure things out myself, thanks.

Originally posted by i do not heart winter:

Originally posted by brennser:

If I asked a question, the response was usually preceded by a heavy sigh – as in, "well, I suppose I could look it up and see if we have it. But that causes me soooo much trouble."

yeah I always found them to be elitist indie assholes - when I went in one day with my daughter I thought they were going to throw me out

yeah, as much as i liked (or wanted to like) DCCD, the extremely standoffish manner of nearly everyone that worked there was a total deterrent. it's like you had to have some special connection to an employee to be given a smile and friendly conversation. no wonder they went out of business?

I thought DCCD staff were snots, also. they would always look disdainfully at customers CDs. They made buying CDs about as pleasurable as buying porn and preparation H.

As for CDepot at College Park, it has some redeeming features, but on the face of it I think it is really horrible. There seems to be as much stuff in game exchange in a 10th of the real estate. Still, I guess it is the only CD store where I have seen the only ones on the shelves.

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?

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?

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!

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.

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?

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).

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?

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

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?

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.

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.

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.