When I was in West Virginia I took the younger boy to a record store where I spent many hundreds of hours when I was roughly his age. I’m not going to name it here, because I don’t want it popping up in somebody’s Google Alerts, or whatever. But the place opened in 1972, and is still in business today. When I was going there during the late 1970s and early 1980s it was very cool indeed. They stocked all the obscure underground stuff, as well as the major label releases. And they carried zines and buttons and all manner of great things. It was, as one of my friends recently put it, our “happy place.”
Yeah, it’s not that way anymore. They’ve had to make some adjustments through the years to remain solvent. Nobody buys music anymore. At least not enough to keep a sizable business afloat. Especially in Charleston, WV.
So…. it’s mostly about weed at this point. A big section of the store is devoted to bongs and pipes and rolling papers, and the like. They always sold that kind of stuff, but it was a small little corner of the place. Now it seems to be the focus. Also, they sell a lot of sex toys, which is “new.” You know, from maybe the last 20 years, or so?
And there’s a person who worked there when I was in high school, who STILL works there. I’m not kidding. He’s a nice guy, and it makes me happy there’s still a living, breathing connection to the old days. And I was momentarily pleased that he seemed to remember me. He walked up and said, “Hey, it’s good to see you, man!” But then I overheard him say the same thing to a couple of other people. I think it’s just his go-to line.
It pains me to report this, but the whole thing made me mildly depressed. That store was so super-important to me, and the bones of it are still in place. But you’re not going to get some hyper-enthusiastic music freak hipping you to the Monochrome Set or Pere Ubu at this point. Now it’s just for people who want to rip a bong-load, and maybe fuck a travel mug, or whatever. Somehow it’s both wildly familiar and unrecognizable.
I admire their ability to adapt and remain in business, when so many others did not. But there’s nothing for me there. And it’s also kinda seedy. The clientele seemed to be people who are in an FBI database of some sort, or maybe finishing up a hard day of community service. Thought they’d stop in for a glass pipe, or perhaps a foot-long dildo with a bicycle hand grip… I personally own roughly ten times as many LPs as they now have for sale (mostly purchased there!), and about forty times as many CDs. It’s not a record store at this point. They just keep a few around, so they don’t have to change the sign.
Oh well. I’d also be sad if they were out of business. Right? There’s no pleasing some people.
I don’t want to oversell it and say it’s the most depressing store in the world. It’s not THAT bad. My connection to it, and the way it’s changed, just triggers a reaction in me. But it’ll never be as depressing as Big Lots, or (ironically) Party City. For me, anyway.
I’m calling it a day, my friends. But before I go I’d like to invite you to tell us what you think are the most depressing stores in the world. Also, do you have anything like my record store tale? If so, please tell us all about it in the comments.
This is another quickie, but at least I’m staying on schedule.
I’ll see you guys again on Thursday.
Have a great day!
Now playing in the bunker
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I stopped in there for the first time ever a couple weeks ago (assuming you are talking about a certain place in Kanawha City), and you are absolutely correct. Good place to by smoking devices, I guess.
“buy” Sheesh.
There is a Kmart here in Raleigh that makes me shudder every time I even so much as drive by. Even as low a bar as a Kmart or Walmart is this one somehow is much worse than your regular big box low-end store. First nothing ever seems to be put away it’s just stacked up randomly. The floor looks like it has not been cleaned in the 30 years the place has been there. And finally everybody that works there looks depressed or depressing.
Let me guess: the one on Western Blvd.? I went in there once and couldn’t get out fast enough.
I know the store you’re talking about. I used to go there all the time. They kept the coke paraphernalia in a little back room, and you almost had to be invited, to go in there. Their music inventory used to be the best. Too bad, things have changed so radically, but if no one’s buying records or CD’s, why sell ’em? Guess I don’t need to go there anymore.
Depressing store? Michaels. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear about a suicide in their glitter aisle.
That’s hilarious!
There are no record or book stores where I live. There are few flea market type places selling used records – since those have become popular again. We use to have 4 record stores (all open at the same time) in Morgantown.
Up in these parts, Newbury Comics was the cool place to go for all things music, and the subversive lifestyle in general. Now it’s a poser boutique for t-shirts, posters, video, and overpriced vinyl – because it’s hip again.
Overall, suburban malls are massively depressing. They used to be the hangout where teens would meet, a place where you could find everything in one place. Now they’re barren, populated with pushy, purposeless kiosk salespeople on their cell phones, and empty retail stores with more pushy salespeople. The stores carry about 1% of what you can get on Amazon, for 3 times the price. We sometimes go so we can see stuff in person, or just to get out of the house and walk around, but it’s rarely time well-spent.
We have two dead malls in the area where I live. One of them was the very first mall in the entire area. I recall going there when I was very young (early 1970s) and throughout my teenage years. I think it is now mostly just boarded up store fronts now.
The other one is now home to two different companies and a few other stores. It is mostly a place where people do indoor walking. For those who are interested in such things – check out Dan Bell’s Dead Mall video series.
I would throw Sears on the list. I use to buy several things there. And now they don’t carry any of those things. And the place is empty except for a few people looking unhappy behind the cash register. I would say K-Mart also – but the one we had shut down. There were several things there that I liked to get also.
I went to the Sears near me a few months ago because it was the only place I could find the battery I needed to replace for my standby generator… found the battery but couldn’t find anyone to check me out. I finally got tired of walking around looking for an employee and left the damned thing sitting in the middle of the store, walked out. Called the generator service and told them to come out to my place and replace the thing for me.
Stopping at any rest stop on the New Jersey turnpike at 2am. You think that you have landed on another planet. Drive to a Maryland rest stop and the vibe is completely different. 50 miles makes a big difference.
Michaels and AC Moore. Even the smell depresses me.
I was sad to hear that the sandwich shop by my university had closed. It had been there about 30 years, making the most awesome sandwiches that saw me through many hangovers, and now it’s gone. Going back for a sandwich was on my mental to do list.
K-Marts (the few that are left) wear me down.
We were passing through a town we lived in some 10 years ago and went by the mall. About a third of the storefronts were boarded over, and this isn’t a dying, drying up town, either. When we moved there they had a full-sized carousel in the food court. Now only 2 food places were open.
Before it got refurbished, the local K-Mart always smelled like stale popcorn even though there hadn’t been popcorn served in there for years. The floors were dirty and the shelves were mostly unstocked and disheveled. There were retail zombies working the registers. Depressing as hell.
Eventually it was remodeled but they spent most of the money on the inside of the store so not many people knew about it. A few weeks before their eventual closure announcement I had been inside the newly remodeled store and it was fantastic. All shiny with full stocked shelves and semi-nice clothing. Still empty. Still zombies filing their nails at the registers.
K-Mart is a great example of a company that quit caring years ago. They also thought that resurrecting the Blue Light Special would save them…..
I was looking for a foot long dildo with a bicycle grip! What was the name of the store again?
Wal-Mart of course. And my local Target is looking a little down in the dumps these days too. The K-Mart a few blocks from me was downright grim by the time they boarded it up a few years ago. Now it’s been remodeled and become a Lowe’s. I very rarely darken the door of any of these places. Come to think of it, I almost never go to retail stores at all anymore, other than the 7-Eleven and the licka sto. And Costco, which is no more or less depressing than it’s always been.
Fortunately, there have been a few new record stores popping up lately. Unfortunately, I can’t bring myself to visit.
Now I’m reminded of how depressing the local Target superstores are. Not because they’re rundown (like K-mart), but because half of these stores consist of aisles and aisles of refrigerated food that nobody is buying.
I’m going to jump on the K-Mart bandwagon.
I grew up a bike ride away from the worlds first K-Mart and in the 70’s and even early 80’s and that place was beyond awesome.
The last time I went in there it was half empty, and the employees just stared with dead, lifeless eyes like they were inhabitants of some kind of eternal retail purgatory. The customers weren’t any different. It was depressing as hell.
Back in the late 70’s early 80’s there was a huge retail space that became empty in a strip center in a middle-class neighborhood here in Memphis. A company leased the space and, for the life of me, I can’t remember the name of the company but it was along the line of “Big Lots” or something similar. They carried over-stocks and refurbished items at super discounted prices. They ran an ad for micro-waves (they were fairly new at the time) at a great price and I decided I was going to get one for myself. Well, I walked in that huge warehouse space and was overcome with a smell that I can’t really describe. It was a mix of body odor, axle grease and rotting food. I should have known to leave right then but I was determined to get that micro-wave. I walked through aisles of cases of off-brand beauty products, incomplete tool sets, wadded up clothing thrown into big boxes, etc. THEN I came to the micro-wave area and let me tell you, it was a sight to behold. There were literally hundreds of unboxed, used and refurbished ovens piled 10 high to be had by the general public. The bad part is that when they were “refurbished” no one ever bothered to clean out the food that had either been in the oven for months on end or food that had exploded while being cooked. They were absolutely filthy and the smell of rotten food was overwhelming!! It was like walking through a mine field. But, being the determined bargain shopper I was, I started trying to find the least filthy micro-wave on the floor. It took a while. I did buy one, took it home and scrubbed it until my hands were bloody then sat it out in the sun for a day to make sure the stench was gone. That gross micro-wave served me well for several years but I never set foot in that store again; in fact, I don’t believe I ever even drove through that neighborhood again (it is now the ghetto). I’ve decided you get what you pay for. I am happy to pay full retail for a clean appliance these days.
If you’re familiar with Egil Hegerberg, Kristopher Schau and Aslag Guttormsgaard: in short, Hurra Torpedo, and their eternal search for the perfect musical kitchen appliances, you’ll not be surprised that their shopping trip to an outdoor reconditioned appliance store not a long distance from the store Reefie describes in Memphis exceeded her experience considerably. Hurra operates on a more global scale than Reefie, not in terms of their finances or venues, but in terms of their perspective. Here they travel half way around the world to the city of the Million Dollar Quartet to enjoy a near-perfect shopping experience:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSP2ikbMwsI
Life is short: clobber stoves.
jtb
Damn, JTB! How on earth you managed to locate such an upscale appliance dealer right here in Memphis is amazing. I’ve not heard of this venture but doubt that I will travel to midtown to check it out. I would be afraid one of those guys with huge sideburns might still be there, hidden behind a stove. Thank you so much for the tip though. I learn something new from you almost every week here at WVSR.
John, have you heard of our infamous Prince Mongo? He is from the planet Zambodia and is 333 years old. He was on “Pickers” last year and it was amazing to see the “stuff” he collects. He is a millionaire many times over and owns not only several residential properties here in Memphis, but many commercial warehouses where he stores his “stuff”. Pickers had a blast with him and Mongo donated all the proceeds of the venture to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. I happen to know Mongo personally and though is he somewhat eccentric, he is the most charitable person I know, giving so much to those in need. He owns properties all over the Eastern US…a couple homes in Florida, a couple in West Virginia, one on a mountain top in Cashiers, NC and God knows where else. He has offered his home in Cashiers to me several times as a place to spend a week or more in the beautiful mountains of the Carolinas. I’ve not taken him up on the offer, but know people that have. He is a Prince of a guy and you would appreciate him. Look him up; it’s well worth your time.
Reefie,
I congratulate you on having the kind of civic leader who, though overqualified to be in the Trump cabinet, continues to do good works in the city of the Beale Street Blues Boys and Stax Records (just listened to an interview with Steve Cropper the other night). I guess Mephians are just born with class and a certain amount of showmanship. I was unaware of the Prince. Thanks, as always, for the enlightenment.
John
My local Democrat field office looks pretty grim. A bunch of clueless socialists wondering which loser to run next.
That is one of things about Walmart I don’t get. I was looking at some curtains there once and noticed there were some balled up and re-packaged. They were also covered in dog hair.
K-mart for sure, with Sears a close second, and then Radio Shack to round out the list.
I’d love to know how K-mart has generated enough revenue to pay its employees and electric bills throughout the past few decades. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of setting foot inside the local one last week in search of something I couldn’t find at other nearby stores. The place looked like post-tornado news footage from a decimated midwestern village.
That’s an apt description about the post tornado look. And is it just me, or does everything in that store belong in the “beige” family? Clothes, linens, appliances, school supplies – everything has a generic, lifeless beige look to it.
Big Lots. Ollies. Both smell like hot death.
Ollies is great if you want software releases from 10 years ago.
You need a fistful of anti-depressants to get through our local K Mart but rumor has it they’re tearing it down and replacing it with a Target.
My local Dollar store could send me on a week long crying jag. I especially hate seeing people buying baby clothes or food products from there. First off, the place stinks of a weird chemical substance that’s probably in the clothes and food. The carpet looks like it was retrieved from a landfill. Everything looks gloomy. I only go in there for gift bags and boxes and bows. I see people buying questionable food items like candy that probably came from some cinema that got torn down during the Clinton Administration. It’s just a hell hole and it replaced my beloved Ben Franklin. Double travesty!
I almost got knocked down by a running big woman in a Dollar Store once. She was chasing after some kids who were shoplifting. It use to be they did not have cameras or security tags on anything there. Now they do.
I haven’t yet read the comments, and I am sure that I will not be the first, but Holy Hell, Dollar General is the saddest. Big Lots is bad, but in my experience, the stores are at least vaguely organized and clean-ish. Dollar General is a fucking cavalcade of fuckery. Canned goods in the garden supplies. Tampax in the cookie aisle. Totes and boxes of unstocked shit everywhere. Dim lighting. Meth-heads aplenty. Just fucked.
K-Mart in Dickson City PA hands down. Corporate is closing it down, but it could be used as a set for a period piece from 1981. Nothing changed but the inventory.
Joe, are you entirely sure the inventory changed? When my local K-Mart had its Grand Closing sale, I swear I found a “Nixon’s the One” T-shirt from 1972.
Turns out he was.
jtb
You may be right. The “Where’s the Beef” ball cap is still in the bargain bin.
My local K Mart is begging to be bulldozed. I’m sure among the bargains to be had will be movies like “Sixteen Candles” and “Rambo” available on VHS, along with cases of White Out and those cute little leg warmers I heard were all the rage.
White Out? I’m there!
There’s a chain down South called ‘Tuesday Morning,” and it’s almost as bad as a Kmart or Walmart. Random things stuffed on shelves, covered in a layer of dust and sadness. I went there once; never again.