The remaining six Virgin Megastores in the United States will shut their doors this summer.

To buck declining music sales, the chain broadened its offerings in the last few years to apparel, books and electronics. The six remaining stores took in about $170 million in revenue a year, down from the $230 million from 23 stores at its peak in 2002.

The lack of expansion plans and a recent decision to close the Times Square location in New York, which had been on track to make $56 million last year until the financial collapse began in September, made supporting the rest of the chain untenable, Wright said.

“Our six best stores from a retail point of view are also our six best stores from a real estate point of view,” Wright said.

It looks like the corporate record store may soon be a thing of the past.

Do you think Wal-Mart killed the big chain record stores, was it iTunes, or did they just kill themselves?

This documentary tells the story of Paul Mawhinney and Record-Rama, the largest collection of vinyl LPs in the world.

Mawhinney was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. Over the years he has amassed what has become the world’s largest record collection. Due to health issues and a struggling record industry Paul is being forced to sell his collection.

A really interesting look at the historical value of vinyl, and the obsession of collectors.

via Crate Kings

I saw a notice at a Kansas City auction site, via Crate Kings, that the contents of the Music Exchange – an icon on the KC music scene for decades – are going to be auctioned off in July:

Due to the death of The Music Exchange owner Ron Rooks and the subsequent closing of The Music Exchange store, a vinyl phenomenon and fixture of the Kansas City music scene for decades on Westport Road, we will be selling the store inventory and fixtures at public auction and record sale in July 2008.

The auction and record sale will both take place at the final resting place of the business, namely 1413 West 13th Terrace, Kansas City, MO 64102 (The Beast building in the West Bottoms, corner of 13th Terrace and Hickory).  Directions: I-35 to 12th Street, go across the 12th Street Bridge and take the first left which is Liberty, go two blocks south and take a left on West 13th Terrace.  Signs will be posted from 12th Street the days of the sales.

Public Auction – Saturday, July 12th, 10AM (Preview Friday, July 11th, 1-4PM)

We will be selling the fixtures and primarily non-vinyl inventory from the store at auction.  This includes store fixtures, record storage, showcases, shelving, crates, desks, chairs, tables, flip racks, metal swivel racks, filing cabinets, metal shelving units, lamps, fans, tags, labels, store displays, shopping cart, bookcases, shrink-wrap machine, etc.  The inventory includes music and movies, in all conceivable media formats (reel-to-reel, 78’s, LP’s, cassettes, CD’s, 45’s, VHS, Betamax, DVD’s, 8-Tracks, video discs, etc.), vintage magazines (men’s, music, Jazz Times, Living Blues, Rock & Roll, Stereo, etc.), autographed memorabilia, framed art and mirrors, movie and concert posters, neon signs, Coca-Cola cooler, vintage Coke and Pepsi crates, decanters, music postcards, blank CD cases, vintage tube radios, vintage stereo equipment, phonographs, old clocks including Telechron, beer signs, RCA Victor record displays, Kolster radio, Swordfish on the wall, old stoplights, Columbia Records display rack, Pioneer laserdisc players, local artist-created copper motion lamp with glass globes (this large lamp hung in the store), tons of vintage sheet music (most individually priced in the store), Ediphone, promotional items, piano rolls, record price guides, The Music Exchange electronic sign, The Music Exchange customer list, film cans, lots of record accessories (dividers, sleeves, etc.), musical cigars, books, Muehlebach Beer thermometer, Little Wonder records, picture records, Led Zeppelin items, Beattles items, Elvis items and much more. We will also be selling some of the best vinyl at the auction.  Please join us in person for an exciting live auction event!  Please note: we will not be charging a buyer’s premium at this auction.

Blow Out Record Sale – Wednesday, July 16 – Saturday, July 19 and Wednesday, July 23 – Saturday, July 26 (10AM – 4PM Daily)

We will be selling 250,000+ LP’s of all music genres including Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Classic Rock, Classical, Country, Imports, Pop, R&B, Rock, Soundtracks, Comedy and many more that we could list.  All records will be sold for $1 each, regardless of the original retail price.  Most of the records were priced anywhere from $5 to $50 in the store, some even higher. This will be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to stock up on vinyl, and we mean stock up!  At this point, we have only opened about 10% of the boxes containing records, so we have no idea what else we might find in the weeks leading up to the sale.  Due to space constraints, fresh stock will be added daily.  Come prepared to dig and flip through records and expect to be rewarded with many bargains.  Dealers are welcome as we need to leverage your knowledge and time to sort through this many records.  After the sale, we will be taking offers on the entire remaining stockpile of records.

Questions? Please contact Gregg at (913) 491-2930.  Feel free to leave a message.

The Music Exchange wasn’t one of the great American record stores. It wasn’t one of the biggest. They didn’t have the most complete selection. It certainly wasn’t one of the cleanest. 

Nevertheless, it was one of the best record stores in the midwest.

I spent a lot of time, in my youth, at the Music Exchange, digging through crates. I found a lot of great new music there, and I expanded my ears there.

It’s sad to see this place getting auctioned off, piecemeal. 

RIP, Music Exchange.

Printable Auction and Record Sale Flyer (.pdf)

Now that Tower is out of business and iTunes is putting the squeeze on even Wal-Mart, it’s survival of the fittest for indie record stores.

Fortunately, there are still some incredible record stores standing.

The ones that JUST WON’T DIE.

The ones that Wal-Mart couldn’t kill.

The ones that iTunes hasn’t killed.

Paste magazine has done a rundown of its take on the coolest record stores in America:

• Amoeba Records, Los Angeles, CA
• Criminal Records, Atlanta, GA
• Other Music, New York City
• Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art, Clarksdale, MS
• Waterloo Records, Austin, TX
• Aquarius Records, San Francisco, CA
• Dusty Groove America, Chicago, IL
• Ernest Tubb Record Shop, Nashville, TN
• Shangri-La Records, Memphis, TN
• Music Millennium, Portland, OR
• Ear X-Tacy, Louisville, KY
• Louisiana Music Factory, New Orleans, LA
• Newbury Comics, Boston, MA
• Grimey’s New + Pre-Loved Music, Nashville, TN
• Turntable Lab, New York City
• The Electric Fetus, Minneapolis, MN
• Jerry’s Records, Pittsburgh, PA

I’ll vouch for Amoeba, Waterloo Records, Music Millenium & The Electric Fetus. And I’ll lament the passing of KC’s Music Exchange. And I’ve got a few places to visit on my next trip.

Let me know if you think they missed a great record store in your area!

Image: chelseagirl

There’s a new holiday coming to town - Record Store Day.

My type of holiday!

On this day, indie music stores across America are uniting with the purpose of celebrating the culture and unique place that they occupy both in their local communities and nationally.

Organizers have enlisted the help of musicians to raise awareness of Record Store Day.

“It’s important to keep indie record stores alive because their unique environments introduce music lovers to things in a very personal way,” says Peter Gabriel.

“There’s nothing as glamorous to me as a record store,” says Paul McCartney. ”When I recently played Amoeba in LA, I realised what fantastic memories such a collection of music brings back when you see it all in one place. This is why I’m more than happy to support Record Store Day and I hope that these kinds of stores will be there for us all for many years to come.”

“Independent record stores are like the best thing going for real music lovers,” says Henry Rollins . “I remember going to a store named Leopold’s in Berkeley CA when I was younger. Man, I used to live in that place. They were pretty much the only place I could find Hiphop. Back then, there wasn’t much at the chain stores. You had to go forth and discover stuff, and the indie stores is where the discovery begins. People in the store are informed, they can actually HELP you find stuff that you’re interested in or suggest things that you may be interested in. It’s just a hip place to be, man.”

Plans are underway to set up special events at all of the stores on this day, as well as provide customers with a goodie bag that promotes new formats, new releases, and exciting information on music, theatrical, and gaming releases.

If you’re going to SXSW, you can find out more about the event there.