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Are there any dedicated Record Stores left in the US...

We had Blockbuster, too. ;)

I can remember going into Blockbuster and browsing the shelves for an hour and leaving with nothing but disdain for the movie industry. Now with Netflix, Hulu, Redbox, etc. I can find nothing to watch in a much shorter amount of time. :D

I don't really miss the big music emporiums that much. As I get older, I have much less desire to add to an already bulging music library. I think I did the math once and if I played every track of every album I have, I could have something like 27 days of non-stop music and never listen to the same thing twice.
 
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What's that fund where people give you money for ideas?

You mean like Bernie Madoff? ;)

Seriously, there are some experiences coming generations will never have, like shopping in a brick and mortar music store. That's progress.

Hey, here's an MBA idea ... how about a retro amusement park that looks like a shopping mall from the 1980's? Music stores and Orange Juliuses ... pay phones and arcades with pinball machines instead of video consoles. You could even throw in a bowling alley or pool hall. :)
 
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Yeah, I was a virgin in the '70s, what's your point? ;) :p

The '70s were all (and mostly only) about vinyl. Theirs was a very profitable distribution model with live performances acting primarily as promotion for album sales. That has flipped now with distributed music acting as the promotional vehicle for live performances, which seems to be where the money is made now. People may come to a store, but it'd be for the experience and memorabilia, not to purchase music.
 
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^^^^^^^^
I love it, good luck with it.
But lunatic 59 has it pretty right, the business model just isn't viable.

Now, as a nostalgia trip, or a vanity project undertaken "all for the love of rock and roll"......Your place would be popular, you might even break even.:p

I love the idea of a nostalgia theme park, have considered the notion many times myself.
 
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I love the idea of a nostalgia theme park, have considered the notion many times myself.

To make it even more viable, make it by decade for an entire century. Start with the roaring 20s ... flappers, bathtub gin ... 30s would be depression era, 40's ... um ... didn't something big happen in the 1940s? :p anyway, you get my drift, but do it not as a historical purpose, but as a cultural one.
 
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I would say nothing cool about buying online......I'm struggling to think if I have ever done it.
And I listen to very little new music as a result. When the business model changed, the entire industry lost me as a customer. It wasn't a deliberate choice on my part, and no great loss to them. I just don't see the appeal of scrolling through a list of titles and doing "file management" of my entertainment. I'll flip through stacks, and admire cover art all day long, though. But I consume a lot less new music, and am further out of mainstream pop culture than I would like....And more than can be accounted for by simple age.:(

Vinyl is certainly making a comeback, but it's different. Where it used to be essential as a format, now it is more of a "lifestyle choice", so the environment in the record stores around here is different as a result.
Not to stereotype, but a store full of middle age, white, affluent hipsters.
It's impossible to imagine a chain of dedicated record stores, but the most enjoyable establishments are invariably Mom and Pop stores, attracting a wide variety of people, with a wide variety of requirements. IMHO.
Again, not to stereotype, but I can't imagine a "record themed" nostalgia store having a large section of classical music, and Sesame Street recordings, for instance; Hard to replicate the true experience you remember.

Whether record, video, hobby shop, video arcade........The ones that always had some real character felt like a repurposed old building (perhaps the shell of the last failed venture) which one man or woman turned into their labor of love, shared their enthusiasm with the community, and hoped to make a few bucks in the process.

Nostalgia is a full sensory experience when it is at its best.
To really capture the experience, you would need to replicate the ride to the store in the '66 ford Falcon, listening to the AM radio, smelling like Coppertone, with sand in your shorts. Little kids making noise on the other side of the shop, the bigger kids smelling like those funny little cigarettes, the sound of the price sticker gun firing away as you are exposed to Ska for the very first time. (For instance.):D

Thanks, Bobby. I needed this thread to show up today.
 
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I honestly think of it as a new experience. Online is so meh now.

Listening booths would be part of my model. You and a friend sharing the booth. I know it will take awhile to catch on but it's so real. An adventure even. Who doesn't want to share an adventure.

My physical space budget is getting higher as I think. I could possibly fund this on Kickstarter right? And no, I won't pull a bernie.
 
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do it not as a historical purpose, but as a cultural one.
Aren't we moments away from the Amazon drone dropping off the thumb drive, containing all known recordings since the dawn of time, right to my door?o_O

I'll visit Bobby's place once or twice for the curiosity of it, but as far as creating repeat customers, establishing a "hangout" environment....That's a hard one to replicate.

And as far as the cost of real estate/rent, I'm not even enough businessman to get even "basic 101" retail level concepts.

I live in a relatively small town, it's amazing the number of things / services you have to drive a fair ways to find. Rents are sky high, businesses can't make a go of it, they fold up the tent. So it really puzzles me when I see long term vacancies, buildings that look like an ideal candidate for Bobby's record store. My limited understanding of the situation makes me think.......Isn't this free market 101.......You need to lower the rent, to make it an attractive prospect for someone to sign the lease. Landlord gets something back on his investment, and the vacancy rate in town goes down.....nudging rents gently up.

When I see buildings in prime locations with paper over the windows for years, all I can think is ?tax dodge?money laundering? Something seems fishy.

Lunatic, when you build the BIG nostalgia theme park, you will find me in "VIDEO ARCADE - 1983".
Again, it would need to be an entire sensory immersion; If you need a creative consultant for this, or any other "Adventureland" in the park, I'm available to hire.

Clearly, I have nothing better to do at the moment.:p
 
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Geez, and I thought I was a curmudgeon. ;)

While I enjoy a little harmless reminiscing, the pragmatist in me thinks you may be looking in the wrong direction.

As we're tooling down Rt. 66 in that Ford (with a metal dashboard and no seat belts, burning leaded gas) are we also lighting up a Lucky Strike after we toss the empty Ballantine's can out the window?
No video games. That's a separate business model. I think GameStop has that sown up now.

Not even pong?
 
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Has someone already created the "favorite vintage (quarter eatin' console) video game" thread?
Have I just not seen it yet?

Not harshing your vision in the least, just occasionally play devil's advocate. Returning to topic:
The intimate "listening booths" seem essential, good call.

In running a venture such as this, you would be responsible for / have the pleasure of creating the "program block". Far more than just "which song should follow this one" DJ duties, I mean the whole schedule.

Kid friendly programming hours. Be-Bop Tuesday nights. Sinatra lounge on first Saturday nights of the month. "Be your own DJ for a single track, me and my friends" Wednesday nights.
The possibilities are endless.

Definitely listening booths with headphones........
But I would also imagine a kick ass sound system would be a requirement. :cool:

"I know it seems like a lot of money, dear......But what can I do, we need it for the business.":rolleyes:

During some program blocks, I think a well stocked bar would also be an important bit of the puzzle.:D
 
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No headphones. Speaker technology is off the hook now! Dr. Bose started it but mobiles redefining it.
Wait ... isn't listening to an AM transistor radio through a tinny monaural 'earbud' part of the experience?

If you have a private booth that allows bourbon and cigars while listening to Charlie Parker, I am there. :D
 
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