I’ve just returned from the store, where I put in a modest nine hours of work today. I’ve worked in retail before — in fact, I’ve worked in retail since the age of 16 — but I’ve never seen pandemonium like what occurred on the much-ballyhooed (if you read the Pitchfork News section or the New York Times (thanks for the link Mr. Collins)) Record Store Day.
Although I wasn’t there in time for the front door to open, I was told there was a line extending from the parking lot side of the building, around the corner, and down the front of the building along Glendale. I arrived about thirty minutes after opening, and the aisles were crammed with customers. The 20,000 or so 45rpm’s I helped price and organize this week, which were delicately placed in the back corner of the store last evening, were strewn all over the place. Customers were seated on the floor looking through tray after tray of records. Many brought portable players with them to test for quality. The first thing one might have noticed upon entering the store was the smell. Let me tell you — old man record collectors smell awful. Many of them, I think, don’t shower. It prompted some of us at the front counter to declare that next year our free giveaways would not include CDs, LPs, buttons, stickers, or calendars…but travel-sized deodorants and mouthwash.
A photographer captured many images of the store at its fullest. I’ll post them when I find them. For an hour or two, my job was just to keep customers in line before they paid and direct them to the nearest open check-out location. When lunch arrived for the employees, I took over at the register. The first few minutes were definitely daunting. There was a small crib sheet detailing all the different discounts for various items, which ranged from 15% – 50%. Literally everything in the store was on sale, even the numerous Beatles “butcher covers” and that homework assignment of Buddy Holly’s that no one will ever want to buy. Surprisingly few high-value items were actually sold, I think. I watched maybe four collectible or high $$$ records leave the premises. Instead, most people opted for quantity over quality. It wasn’t unusual for someone to approach the counter with a basket or two filled to the brim with $1.99 and $2.99 CDs.
As the day wore on, the clientele slowed from an overwhelming amount of bodies to a steady roar. It seemed like there were always at least 40 people in the store, if not more. I found myself running around performing sundry tasks, such as cleaning up the piles of CDs and 45s that were growing in various nooks and crannies throughout the store, helping bag sales for busy cash register operators, pricing new records, CDs, and DVDs to keep the shelves filled with as much product as possible, and generally running around asking if anyone needed assistance with anything. Then I did some work in the back for a while filing online orders, which is not worth detailing. Then I handled one of the register drawers for the final three hours of the sale. All told, it was a very busy and very tiring day. It was also an amazingly profitable day for the store, which I imagine was the purpose of having this sale coincide with Record Store Day.
Before closing up shop, I made sure to get the most I could out of the sale by purchasing a slew of records. I figured I deserved it for working so hard. I got half-a-dozen or so good albums and didn’t spend but twenty-seven dollars. Finally procured AC/DC’s Back In Black, a Hella EP, an XTC LP, a couple compilations (16 jazz songs about marijuana, Nuggets, etc)… I even got a super-cheap, clean copy of T. Rex’s The Slider to replace my old, dirty copy. If anyone wants that (there’s some surface noise), let me know and I’ll send it to you. I also walked out with half a pizza pie and a congratulations from the general manager on a job well done. That was cool. Plus, I found out the Mets won their game this afternoon. Hard to beat that day.
Did any of you help your local record stores celebrate Record Store Day? What kind of swag were the stores giving away? What’d you buy? Nothing? Well, you should spend your money on one of my two LPs that I’m auctioning off on eBay. The proceeds from the auction will be donated to me, because I have to pay rent in a few weeks, and I’d like to be able to for the renewal of my domain (read: this website), which is going to cost a few bucks. So, yeah…If you want to keep reading this website you should either make a donation or buy an LP from me.
