Why I even bother trying is beyond me

Back when I lived in Cincinnati, there was a shop called Shake It Records. Before going there, I felt the temptation to leave me credit card at home and only bring a limited amount of cash, because that was the only safe thing to do. Any CDs, records, DVDs, books, and magazines I wanted, they had. I hardly ever walked out of there empty handed. It's one of those stores you walk into for the first time and go, "Holy shit!," start drooling, and drop a hundred without blinking.

I wish I could find a store like tha around Rhode Island. It's possible for an independent store to have a wide selection of a wide variety of music to suit everyones tastes, but nobody around here seems to give a shit. From the small independent stores, to larger local chains like Newbury Comics which used to have everything I ever wanted, all the way upto the huge, evil chains like Strawberries and Borders; I walk out of these places empty handed. (Save for Borders, if we're not talking strictly music here.)

Last thursday, I whined about a stalwart local independent business, College Hill Bookstore, going out of business. I couldn't imagine going to Providence and not being able to walk in there when I wanted. Today, I went to the street that bookstore is on to visit an indie record store, In Your Ear, only to find out that it went out of business a couple months ago. I found this out at the indie record store across the street, who didn't have what I wanted. And come to think of it, the last few times I had tried shopping at In Your Ear, I walked out of there empty handed because they didn't have want I wanted. Ditto for the last few times I tried shopping at College Hill Bookstore.

No wonder these places are going out of business. I know I have odd tastes for music and literature, but I don't think my sentiments are mine alone. They can't be if these businesses are falling flat on their faces. Sure, it was great that In Your Ear had thousands of jazz and big band 12" records from the 50's to the present for sale, but, honestly, who gives a shit? If you're not going to offer up a selection of goods that your customers actually want to buy, then I don't see why I should feel sorry if you go out of business. Same for College Hill Bookstore.

I think it's more than possible for independent buinesses to stay afloat against the proliferation of chain stores. You can get top 40 hits at those places, but all the niche music that random buyers like me want to get, we can't find it at Strawberries or Sam Goody's. We could order it online, but we like going to record stores, flipping through the used CD and record bins, reading various zines for sale, looking at flyers for upcoming shows, and running into a friend and they tell you about a new album you must get. Not only do we listen to music, but we collect it. We cherish it. We appreciate it more than your average chain store shopping consumer. We like going into dusty little independent record stores and finding an album we've been searching for the past few years.

If it's possible for stores like this to stay in business in Cincinnati, why not in Providence? What makes Providence so different? Is it too much to ask a punk/hardcore record store to carry a couple 16 Horsepower CDs? They even have releases on Alternative Tentacles, ferchristssake. [Actually, after checking, I found out they don't. I thought they did...] But I didn't even bother stopping at those stores yesterday because I knew they wouldn't have what I was looking for. But my larger point is this: is it too much to ask an independent record store to actually cater to all tastes? When I want to purchase CDs from punk bands like The Queers, alt-country bands like 16 Horsepower and Slim Cessna [Who is in Alternative Tentacles, that I know for sure.], and weird jazz/rock bands like Morphine, why do I have to shop in 2-4 stores to find them?

I know this comes across as whining, but what the fuck? Have you checked out gas prices lately? Not to mention taking a couple of hours out of my day just to get stuck in traffic and go CD shopping, bouncing from store to store with the possibility of coming up empty handed on all fronts. Maybe I'm whining, but this is fucking annoying.

Record shopping just isn't fun around here. I wish I could support local businesses, but if they never have what I want, and what I want can easily be found on Amazon, then I'm just going to shop there instead. Sorry guys, but you fucked up, and that's why you're going out of business. If you're looking for tips on how to stay in business, try giving Shake It Records a call. They don't seem to have any problems.