Road Records is closing down on Saturday 24th July

DominoDub

Sad to see this mail in my inbox just now ,

But I can well understand how hard it must be keep going in the Ireland we now live! An endless Passion and Knowledge of music will not put bread on the table. I do wish Dave & Juile all the Best in their Future.

How do I begin a piece like this, without repeating everything I wrote nearly two years ago now.

I suppose I would have to say its with great sadness to inform you we are finally closing the doors of Road Records.
Its been a difficult two years since we first faced the prospects of closure and we have literally worked night and day to try and see if we could save the shop and make it a viable business again. The current economic situation in this country added to the many problems we faced in the past have finally caught up with us and we can no longer sustain this little shop.
This time, I am sad to say, there is no alternative for us, we have literally tried everything in our powers to keep this place operating and nothing has worked for us. It hasn’t been an easy decision to make, if anything its even more difficult than two years ago, we have had amazing support from people but nothing we do seems to work anymore.
With debts beginning to build again Julie and myself have finally decided that we cannot take any more risks personally and before things get any worse we will have to finally walk away from the shop for the last time.

I have to say I still have no regrets about the last 13 years, its been a real blast and a pleasure to be here over the years. We have met some amazing people and have become friends with some truly amazing bands. The level of support we have received since last year has been truly mindblowing but so much has changed economically since then that its just not possible to sustain such a small record shop like this anymore.

I am not going to give out about the music business this time around, its just one of those things and we have finally come to a stage where I think the days of the small indie store are numbered. It’s sad to have to admit that but this time I think its true, we can’t blame digital sales, illegal downloading etc, the world is a changing place and I can’t see any room in it for kooky little indie stores like ourselves.

We will be starting our closing down sale this Saturday [17th July] and everything will be on sale at a 25% reduction. We will be open for just one more week after that with the final day being Saturday 24th of July. Literally everything will be going on sale so if you want to pick up a cheap stereo, cash register or stapler, then do drop in.

We would both like to thank each and everyone of you for your support over the years, maybe we will catch up at some point in the future.

We would also like to thank all our wonderful staff from the last 14 years, in person they are – Dylan, Jonny, Jimmy, Gib, Colm, John, Chip and Aengus.

As for what we will do next, the honest answer is we really don’t know, hopefully we can pay off any debts we have and then at least we have a beautiful little baby boy to try and put a smile back on our faces.

Thanks & Adios
Dave and Julie

Howard the Duck

Crap there goes the album of the month club. It's a pity but not unexpected.

eire1

Pretty sad that it's come to this alright. Wish them all the best!

Miguel_Sanchez

That's a shame alright.

sarah+1

That's a huge pity.

DerekDGoldfish

Really sorry to hear that its as unfortunate that its come to this for them.
Will have to pop in at the weekend and get a few things, its a pity as there are many great bands they have introduced me to

rovert

I was right, sadly.

Ireland is a ****hole for self-employed people who lose their business I they can get financial support in such a trying time for young couple.

This sucks.

I'm a sad panda right now

homerun_homer

It's sad but I have to say I've never managed to step foot in the shop. Not living in Dublin would be a big factor but in all my time spent up there I never got around to it, and would only remember it exists when I pass that street at night.
Dublin city rent wouldn't be very forgiving for a small record shop and demand is nowhere near the way it was. But it is a major loss to fans to not have shops like this to visit and spend a few hours browsing the shelves and picking up something you haven't heard and discovering new artists. We need the record stores with heart, owned and worked by people with a passion for music and independant musicians.
In time all we'll be left with is the HMVs of the world; big & soulless business' only interested in the profit margins and not about promoting the underdogs.

g5fd6ow0hseima

HMV dont even sell vinyls.

Miguel_Sanchez

Maeve Wrong Thundershower wrote: »

HMV dont even sell vinyls.

They used to sell them in the basement, did they get rid of them completely?

I haven't been in there in a while myself.

Fanny Cradock

I am surprised that they lasted for two years after they received their reprieve. The reality is that in that time the economic climate hasn't changed a great deal, nor, importantly, has people's purchasing preference for internet business over against the more traditional, and sadly the increasingly less relevant, bricks and mortar alternative.

The desire for specialised music shops - and I'm including in this larger business that will sell any old popular dross - just doesn't seem to be there. Arguably (and possibly evidently) the level of desire is proportionally less for smaller shops dealing with esoteric music. Diversify or die! No doubt the owners were aware of this.

It's tough on people who were passionate about running an independent business but perhaps it's best for them to simply say, "them's the breaks" and move on without leaving any serious debts to burden them.

Fanny Cradock

Jeff_Lebowski wrote: »

did they get rid of them completely?

AFAIK, the stock electronics, games, books, posters and cd's in the basement. Possibly no vinyl to be found in the shop at all.

discobeaker

Maeve Wrong Thundershower wrote: »

HMV dont even sell vinyls.

They hardly even sell CD's anymore let alone vinyl. They have started selling chocolate for fook sake!!!!

rovert

Maeve Wrong Thundershower wrote: »

HMV dont even sell vinyls.

Tower Records does.

discobeaker wrote: »

They hardly even sell CD's anymore let alone vinyl.

Bit of exaggeration.

Anyway anyone who has downloaded music to any large degree can’t get up on their horse in regards to any of this.

rcaz

Was in there Yesterday and saw that. My Dad's bought a few bits from them, but I'm ashamed to say I never did. I saw some Autechre LPs Yesterday that I'll go back for during the week. The place looked great, I'm pretty saddened that I only found it too late.

palethinboy

Really sad news

stateofflux

sad indeed , the guy in there (dave in think) was always sound and very helpful and loved his music.....and they had a lot of wierd stuff you could'nt find anywhere else...

Aridstarling

In many ways the biggest blow will be for Irish bands. Road was always the most obvious place to leave in a couple of copies of your CD or record, they never took much of a cut and they put it right at the front of the shop. That will be missed.

DerekDGoldfish

Was there for the last time today sad day indeed been shoping there for about 8 years

eclectichoney

I felt sick when I was in ther eon Friday. Poor guys.

This has given me a wake-up call though, that I genuinely will try and use Tower a bit more than buying online so much. If Tower were to close down, there will really only be one music store in the whole of Dublin - HMV!

palethinboy

eclectichoney wrote: »

I felt sick when I was in ther eon Friday. Poor guys.

This has given me a wake-up call though, that I genuinely will try and use Tower a bit more than buying online so much. If Tower were to close down, there will really only be one music store in the whole of Dublin - HMV!

I am also going to make a greater effort to shop in Tower

rcaz

What about places like Trout Records and Spindizzy? Road and Tower weren't the only two left.

palethinboy

El Pr0n wrote: »

What about places like Trout Records and Spindizzy? Road and Tower weren't the only two left.

no but tower & road have always been the best of them i think

Miguel_Sanchez

There's also City Discs in Temple Bar.

moonboy

not forgetting dublin's second longest running independent store(after sound cellar)...


freebird! most people dont know its had a shop on wicklow street in the back of the secret book and record store for 4 years or so. perhaps it was too much of a secret...?

Fanny Cradock

moonboy wrote: »

not forgetting dublin's second longest running independent store(after sound cellar)...


freebird! most people dont know its had a shop on wicklow street in the back of the secret book and record store for 4 years or so. perhaps it was too much of a secret...?

"Has", you mean?

ElaElaElano

moonboy wrote: »

not forgetting dublin's second longest running independent store(after sound cellar)...


freebird! most people dont know its had a shop on wicklow street in the back of the secret book and record store for 4 years or so. perhaps it was too much of a secret...?

Is that the place Mero from Knifed used to run? Has a park bench in it I think.

DeBunny

I think the days of the small indie store are numbered. It’s sad to have to admit that but this time I think its true, we can’t blame digital sales, illegal downloading etc, the world is a changing place and I can’t see any room in it for kooky little indie stores like ourselves.

Uhm, sorry Dave but sales of vinyl are on the increase.
When I heard Road was closing I asked in a couple of other records stores how business was and they said sales of vinyl have been steady for a long time.

I'd put Road Records closure down to lack of foot fall. No one shops on Fade Street. It's dead during business hours.
When they said they were going to give it another go a while ago I thought 'great I must shop there more often and show my support' but even though I buy records fairly regularly I hardly ever seemed to get to Road. I'm sure a lot of us had the same experience. Dave says he tried every thing. I wonder did he try moving the shop to a better location?

There's still plenty of successful, long running record shops in Dublin. Any one wanna do a list of them all? There's about five or six in temple bar alone. There's obviously still plenty of room for small indie record shops.
Perhaps Dave and Julie were just too nice to make it in the cut throat world of small business?

Any hoo, if you're interested, here's a couple of links to articles on the increased sales in vinyl.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2009/dec/02/vinyl-frontier-record-sales

http://www.creativedeconstruction.com/2010/05/physical-fanatics-continue-to-embrace-vinyl-in-a-post-itunes-world/

moonboy

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

"Has", you mean?

i meant its had as in 'it has had'..

Fanny Cradock

Missed the s at the end of its.

darthcool

Ah Road will definitely be missed...

rovert

darthcool wrote: »

Ah Road will definitely be missed...

At least we have guilty free downloading now.

Miguel_Sanchez

rovert wrote: »

At least we have guilty free downloading now.

I'm not following you.