Has DC seen its last indie record store?

Now that DCCD is gone, will we ever see another indie shop in DC again? How about one in the U street area, now that we have three clubs there, with the potential for in-stores?

Sure, I can cobble together most things I want through Olssons and Melody, but I'd love a good indie-focused shop with a strong used section and sense of community. Spaceboy in Philly is a great example of a relatively small shop that has great stock, used, new, vinyl, video, mags, etc. Could a store succeed if it was very smartly run, or are the realities of the industry and DC rents and population too much for any store, no matter how great?

I like Revolution, especially the in-stores they are getting, but the focus seems more mainstream there.

Ollsons and Melody are both independent stores.

my guess is, looking at all the small record stores that have closed, you would have to be, pretty brave/ foolhardy/have a fantastic new concept to open another.

The best idea is a record store in the ground floor that has its own bar and concert space on the second floor, but there is already a surfeit of concert space in DC, especially of the small variety. I think velvet lounge, DC9 and the blackcat backbar are already too much.

I have often thought of opening a CD store of just used stuff and other random stuff, except it would be more like a flea market type deal. where a bunch of collectors could get together and split the rent and set up a section for thier stuff, and sell stuff seperately.
That way one person wouldnt be taking so much risk or doing so much work.

but then again, i am broke. so fuck it.

Revolution Records does look pretty mainstream, but what's not to like?

http://www.revolution-records.com/

This is both an interesting and timely topic. I just this weekend met and talked with the owner of Revolution records. It is a cool place, but a little too 'something'. Not sure mainstream is the right word. I could cetainly be bigger, but having the listening rooms, and the in-store appearences is very cool.

I agree with Markie, having a store with a performance space/bar/coffee house would be the best option. Sort of a Galaxy hut next to a CD store.

In my grand scheme for BigYawn (and never having to work a desk job again) I have begun comtemplating what it would take to even begin thinking about such a thing. Course, I too am broke.

The inherent problem with having a store that is uniquely indie, is that there are not enough people who buy indie to keep it open. You have to sell mainstream CDs. And in a city like DC, you have to sell a lot of Hip-hop and R+B, thats obvious by looking at the population breakdowns.

Anyone have any expereince with this sort of venture? Or has $50,000 they want to throw my way?

sounds to me that nw dc is too expensive for a proper used record store to exist. maybe somewhere like balston or old town alexandria, but out there can be pricey too. cd cellar in falls church seems to be doing pretty well, and they hardly ever have anything i am looking for.

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
cd cellar in falls church seems to be doing pretty well, and they hardly ever have anything i am looking for.

I never walk out of there with less than five CDs.

There's an indie store in alexandria above the mcdonalds on king street.

Originally posted by mark e smith:
my guess is, looking at all the small record stores that have closed, you would have to be, pretty brave/ foolhardy/have a fantastic new concept to open another.

The best idea is a record store in the ground floor that has its own bar and concert space on the second floor, but there is already a surfeit of concert space in DC, especially of the small variety. I think velvet lounge, DC9 and the blackcat backbar are already too much.

actually go! disc, i think that was it's name, tried this at the old black cat several years ago and it didn't work out…

Redsock,

Maybe you're right that DC can't support a store that is focused on indie, but then again, Smash! focuses pretty much on punk, and is in high-rent Georgetown, and is still around. So, it can't be impossible. And of course a store could diversify, sell some mainstream, r&b, rap, etc. as well as DVDs, while still maintaining an excellent indie section and attitude. Look at all the great Plan 9 stores (I wish Plan 9 would open in NOVA).

Again, I liked Revolution, but given the parking situation I can't imagine going there very often. The selection was relatively diverse (they had some random stuff I didn't expect) but I couldn't imagine flipping through the entire store every time just to see the handful of used new arrivals they got in.

I just miss stores that are explicitly for music lovers.

I've always really liked the Sound Garden in Baltimore. That's a fantastic record store. And of course Rasputin's and Amoeba in San Francisco are amazing. I like Off the Record in San Diego, too. Not to mention the tons of stores in NYC. Amoeba at Haight/Ashbury is the ultimate though. I spent $150 and could have kept going the last time I was there. You can't walk into just ANY record store and walk out with "Boink!" by the Replacements for 17 bucks! I was stunned.

Originally posted by J'Mal:
There's an indie store in alexandria above the mcdonalds on king street.

Now!

Okay selection of new stuff, but it's on the pricey side. Lame selection of used.

I've always loved Princeton Record Exchange.

Never been to Amoeba.

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:

Originally posted by god's shoeshine:
cd cellar in falls church seems to be doing pretty well, and they hardly ever have anything i am looking for.

I never walk out of there with less than five CDs.

can never find anything specific i am looking for. no enon, no black heart procession on saturday afternoon. awesome for local stuff, but not even in the league of soundgarden in baltimore or like 5 stores back in pittsburgh. and dc has a much better scene than pgh.

will have to try the place in old town

Originally posted by bunnyman:
And of course Rasputin's and Amoeba in San Francisco are amazing. I like Off the Record in San Diego, too. Not to mention the tons of stores in NYC. Amoeba at Haight/Ashbury is the ultimate though. I spent $150 and could have kept going the last time I was there. You can't walk into just ANY record store and walk out with "Boink!" by the Replacements for 17 bucks! I was stunned.

but, in order to have such fantastic stores, with an amazing used selection, you have to have a (large?) population that is into that sort of music, which d.c. lacks, especially compared to nyc and the bay area. punk being a slight exception. i don't think there is the base support in this town for such store as amoeba, without sacrificing the essence of what makes that store great.

course, if ggw puts down a c note every week buying cds at such a store, then it could last a year or so. :)

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.

Amoeba is almost better as a West Coast fantasy, since whenever I go I spend way too much.

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.

Amoeba is almost better as a West Coast fantasy, since whenever I go I spend way too much.

So why is it that sound garden is so successful? It's always crowded on the weekends (which granted isn't exactly a scientific assessment) hell, even atomic books in hampden has some nifty stuff (small music selection, but still good stuff).

Baltimore may have a larger percentage of people with those sorts of music tastes but I can't see it being significant enough to make a difference.

Does anyone know why exactly dccd closed? lack of customers? or lease issues? idle time books was forced to move out of its old place because the owners upped the lease on them (and got a bigger, nicer space a block away). it seems like owning a small business on 18th street right now is a bit of a pain in the ass. maybe the dccd owners just felt it wasn't worth it?

Originally posted by skonster:
maybe the dccd owners just felt it wasn't worth it?

I think that may have been part of it.

Originally posted by skonster:
maybe the dccd owners just felt it wasn't worth it?

I only visited DCCD a dozen times or so, but it always struck me as an unfriendly place. 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."

Olssons selection is much worse, but at least they pretend to be happy to have customers in their store.