Stuff: What Happens When Record Stores Die

The BBC News guided us to this story about the afterlife of record stores in the UK. The music landscape has changed dramatically with the dawn of the mp3 format, and the ways in which small businesses have adapted has been most interesting.

For audiophiles, record stores were thee hangout where like-minded record diggers would meet and mine for their favorite lost treasures. Croydon, a suburb south of London, had its fair share of record shops, and recently saw the two most prominent ones close their doors. What happens when the record store closes down, do the owners keep the shop alive in another form?

Enter David Lashmar, owner of the now defunct Beanos, the biggest second-hand record business in Europe. After thirty-three  years of operation, Beanos closed its doors in August of 2009, the point in which Lashmar decided to make the transition from shop owner to landlord. His new venture, Stuff occupies Beanos old location and is an indoor market with quirky design that houses fully-enclosed units which are all very different from the next. The three-story labyrinth of  booths, stalls and shops are all operated by tenants who pay a fixed rent. According to the Croydon Guardian, shoppers can find a variety of LPs, singles and CDs, hand-made goods like chocolates and sweets, an aromatherapy stall, handmade baby clothes, kaleidoscopes and novelty dog accessories as well as a florist, hat maker and African Arts center. Lashmar goes on to say:

For a lot of our traders, it’s their first business and I am keen to help them out. A lot of big businesses are going bust but its a good time for the small trader.

[via BBC News and Croydon Guardian]