Their windows are not adorned with pictures of Britney Spears or ‘N Sync; their stores are not large, multi-level expanses with multiple copies of everything they sell. The used CD and record stores in Boston are small, quirky and individual. As a result, these stores remain an untapped resource for many Boston residents and college students.
However, dedicated music fans have discovered that stores like Nuggets in Kenmore Square and In Your Ear on Commonwealth Avenue are treasure troves of unique music, low prices and undeniable atmosphere.
“I enjoy their selection,” said College of General Studies sophomore Gabe Newman. “It’s underground, not mainstream music. They have better prices and values and independent labels.”
Newman’s favorite find? A Mr. Dibbs CD he bought at Nuggets for $4.
“You wouldn’t find that at a larger chain record store,” he said.
In Boston, there are approximately a dozen record stores that sell used CDs and records. Some, like Stereo Jacks in Cambridge, which carries a large selection of jazz, blues and oldies, specialize in certain musical genres. Others, like Nuggets, carry wider selections. Some stores, like Looney Tunes on Massachusetts Avenue, carry a lot of vinyl; In Your Ear has old stereo equipment, like an L cassette machine from the 1960s.
“It’s a little bit of a museum in here,” said In Your Ear manager Reid Lapin. “We like that kind of old, obsolete equipment.”
While each of the stores falls into its own niche, they all have one thing in common — customers who truly love music. An eclectic mix of people comes in searching for obscure titles and old favorites. Looney Tunes owner and manager Pat McGrath described his customers as, “a cut above the rest of the sheep that you see shopping elsewhere, who will listen to whatever they’re being sold this week.”
College of Arts and Science sophomore Andy Anderlini, who frequently stops into Nuggets or In Your Ear to check for jazz or classic rock recordings on vinyl, made a similar observation.
“Many superchains have very sad selections of music for people outside of the MTV-driven masses,” he said. “But there is tons and tons and tons of amazing music that lies in an area away from big label marketing — artists which don’t ever make it into any top 10 or top 100 lists.”
Catering to that fact, used record stores tend to let the chain stores carry the popular hits, and instead search for the music that might get lost in a commercialized store.
“We avoid the hits. If you look at the 100 best-sellers right now, we probably don’t have any of them,” said Stereo Jacks manager Matt Starr.
McGrath compared shopping in his store to embarking on an archeological dig, where serious searching must be done to reach the desired end.
“The people who come in here are a more special, adventurous type,” he said.
All the stores have regular customers — some come in every day to check for new arrivals or just to say hello. Lapin joked about the routine appearance of certain customers.
“Some come in twice a day, just in case. When we’re gone, they’ll be here as ghosts — the store will be haunted,” he said.
Customers depend on the stores to constantly introduce new materials to their merchandise. New CDs and records are acquired in a number of different ways. A lot of music is ordered through distributors; some comes from people who walk into the store and sell. Occasionally, entire collections are sold after a death. In this situation, competition between stores — rarely seen otherwise — can become an issue as several stores bid to gain the collection.
“The only competition is with selling collections,” said Starr. “When we’re buying, there’s competition; with selling there isn’t. If we don’t have something but I know another store that does, I’ll direct the customer there.”
All of the stores mentioned here have existed for 15-20 years; this is remarkable because others in the area have come and gone with some speed. Lapin acknowledged that while there is no “magic formula” to keeping a used CD business successful, there are certain important things to know.
“There are so many titles that people lose interest in, so you’re stuck with them. You can’t return them; that’s why a lot of stores end up not existing. You have to know what you should be taking chances on,” he said.
Stuart Freedman, owner of Nuggets, shared another tip.
“We try to be honest with our customers, and treat them well. We like to give them the fairest amount for the stuff,” Freedman said.
In addition to honesty, knowledge is an important trait that all employees share. Looney Tunes administers a test to all prospective employees, testing the breadth of their music knowledge. On its application, Nuggets asks about the prospective employee’s favorite kind of music.
“Many of our part-time employees were regular customers who were around when we decided to hire. We know they have a knowledge of the business,” Starr said.
As for the differences between used record stores and chain record stores, most owners didn’t even see an issue. They fill a niche that stores like HMV and Tower Records do not.
“We let them do what they do, and we do what we do,” Lapin said.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
