A record shop in Chicago is giving away its entire stockfree

[The Dr]

A Chicago record shop which is closing after 50 years in the business is to give away its entire stock.

Opened in 1966, Shake, Rattle And Read is letting customers take as much of its stock of CDs, vinyl and books as they want during business hours today and tomorrow (May 24-25).

Owner Rick Addy said streaming had made it impossible to continue trading in his shop, though he intends to continue Shake, Rattle And Read as online business.

His advert on Facebook said that customers can “bring your own boxes” as any remaining unwanted stock would simply be “going in a dumpster”.



Addy, whose sister started the shop as a bookstore in 1966 in Chicago’s Uptown district, told DNA Info: “I’ve stayed in business so long because I’ve adapted to whatever is happening, technology-wise. Now, I’m just going to be an online seller. But I’m going to miss the physical store and physically talking to people, which is what I’m good at.”

The store’s official final day of trading was on Saturday, when Addy’s band The Pogo Ponies played an in-store set.

Addy said: “There’s still people that like to have a hard copy. CDs have really dropped off. Now, people come in and go straight for the vinyl.”

Despite the resurgence in vinyl, a BBC survey estimated that 90% of record shops have closed in the past 25 years.

[semisynthetic]

A very brief positive 2+ days of "Free Records WITH Free Advertising", note the "unwanted stock" is what would go into the dumpster, they say. I so enjoy a real store with actual recordings, and someone who may have been there long enough to "suggest" recordings that got lost in the crowd. But, just as the custom Private Sellers were nearly killed off by the Internet and higher and higher shipping, another store goes.

There are, thankfully, a few Fantastic Shops remaining; and if all goes well, I will be headed to one of my favorite record shops / headshops soon; nothing there is "free", and they haven't needed Advertising in over 30 years. But they do offer great rarities still sealed, ROIO if you ask correctly, and an ever increasing 7" singles, original, from the 1960's on from across the globe. One place "can't have them all", but I am looking forward to any of their Dutch Waxes.