Back in the summer of 1985, I decided to go back to school to get my teaching certificate, and looked for a part-time job near the Buffalo State campus. I went over to Record Theater, then advertised as the "World's Largest Record Store" and impressed the wife of the owner (who was manning the cash register) because for some reason I was wearing a tie. I got the job and ended up working there not just through the year it took me to get certified, but then for most of my subsequent time in grad school as well. Back then, it would be very strange to see the place so deserted looking (the above picture was taken on a visit last week). On a typical summer weekday twenty years ago, there would be a steady stream of record shoppers, lottery players, and video game enthusiasts passing through that entrance way. At that time there were also giant paintings replicating classic album covers on the facade over the windows, which gave the place a much more striking visual presence. There'd also be somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty employees at different posts around the store-- on this day there were three that I saw (and I really doubt many more were in the back-room).
It's a little bittersweet going back to this place. It still has an amazing selection of cds, records, dvds, etc., but it just isn't the hopping place I remember. There's also no one left from the days I worked there (up to a couple years ago at least a couple of the old managers were still around). As you can see from these interior shots, I was the only person in the back part of the store where most of the music is stocked (there were also a couple folks upfront looking at movies). It's easy to imagine, under these circumstances, that the store will likely close sooner rather than later. At one time there were about a dozen branch stores in three states; today there is just one other, a couple miles up Main Street near the University of Buffalo.
I have a lot of good memories of Record Theater, as I'm sure any local music fan does. I may have written on the blog earlier that the big record companies kind of deserves its downfall, because of its shortsighted treatment of music fans and consumers (doing away with singles, keeping cd prices artificially high, refusing to invest in emerging artists, etc.), but it's too bad that great retail shops like this got caught in the fallout, since I don't believe they created those problems. Hopefully Record Theater has a few good years left (maybe the recent vinyl revival will keep them viable). I'll definitely keep stopping by whenever I have the chance.
Back in the summer of 1985, I decided to go back to school to get my teaching certificate, and looked for a part-time job near the Buffalo State campus. I went over to Record Theater, then advertised as the "World's Largest Record Store" and impressed the wife of the owner (who was manning the cash register) because for some reason I was wearing a tie. I got the job and ended up working there not just through the year it took me to get certified, but then for most of my subsequent time in grad school as well. Back then, it would be very strange to see the place so deserted looking (the above picture was taken on a visit last week). On a typical summer weekday twenty years ago, there would be a steady stream of record shoppers, lottery players, and video game enthusiasts passing through that entrance way. At that time there were also giant paintings replicating classic album covers on the facade over the windows, which gave the place a much more striking visual presence. There'd also be somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty employees at different posts around the store-- on this day there were three that I saw (and I really doubt many more were in the back-room).
It's a little bittersweet going back to this place. It still has an amazing selection of cds, records, dvds, etc., but it just isn't the hopping place I remember. There's also no one left from the days I worked there (up to a couple years ago at least a couple of the old managers were still around). As you can see from these interior shots, I was the only person in the back part of the store where most of the music is stocked (there were also a couple folks upfront looking at movies). It's easy to imagine, under these circumstances, that the store will likely close sooner rather than later. At one time there were about a dozen branch stores in three states; today there is just one other, a couple miles up Main Street near the University of Buffalo. 
I have a lot of good memories of Record Theater, as I'm sure any local music fan does. I may have written on the blog earlier that the big record companies kind of deserves its downfall, because of its shortsighted treatment of music fans and consumers (doing away with singles, keeping cd prices artificially high, refusing to invest in emerging artists, etc.), but it's too bad that great retail shops like this got caught in the fallout, since I don't believe they created those problems. Hopefully Record Theater has a few good years left (maybe the recent vinyl revival will keep them viable). I'll definitely keep stopping by whenever I have the chance.
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