Music store owner keeps the beat to an indie tune
By Jenaye Antonuccio (photo by Sherry DiBari)
Creating music may be timeless, but selling it in today’s market is harder than ever.
Retail businesses across the board have been experiencing the effects of the economy’s downturn through business closings and employment cuts.
The music industry, already ailing from availability of downloads and file-sharing, has taken a steady hit. “That decline has taken a heavy toll on our industry as a whole -- from songwriters losing their jobs to record stores, especially those around college campuses, closing their doors,” said Jenni R. Engebretsen, former Director of Communications for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), a Washington, DC-based trade group that represents the U.S. recording industry.
But here in Athens, Haffa’s Records at 15 W Union St. has had a different experience.
Eric Gunn, owner of the independent small business, explains, “We are unique in that we are the only record store within 50 miles.” Because of this, he says he’s sure the business will weather whatever crisis is ahead. “The music industry is changing, CD sales are slowing, but dying industries take a long time before they finally keel over,” he says. “More people will come to us because we are a small niche store.”
Gunn also insists that people’s need for music will never die, no matter the economic climate. “Music is one of those luxuries that even in tight times, people can afford,” he says. “Even poor people still bought their Jimmie Rodgers 78’s in the middle of the Depression.” He adds, “You might not be able to go out and blow 80 bucks on dinner, but you can pick up a six pack and a used CD and you are under 15.”
Keeping the value of the entertainment dollar in mind, customers can find most of Haffa’s items priced under $20, and most used items less than $10.
Since opening in the 70s, the goal of Haffa’s has been the same: good merchandise at low prices. Used books and LP’s made up the majority of initial sales. The name plays off of “half-price” and a reference to an old blues song, with the lyrics “kind of have to have something…”. What is the correct pronunciation of the store – short or long “a”? “Tomato, tomah-to,” says Gunn. “We answer to everything.”
As the fourth owner of the store, Gunn’s fourteen-year Haffa’s tenure (pre-ownership employment and ownership) has seen much change. Aside from moving upstairs from the basement location to the former Duplication Station storefront, people’s musical tastes and listening repertoire have broadened due to the World Wide Web. “Now a much broader palate of music with file sharing and being able to listen to music online, people have a broader array of genres that they listen to, or styles of music from all different eras,” says Gunn.
Since his early youthful days of employment, there’s always been a record store in his work-life. Though it is not always easy, he confirms there is no better job. “It’s a cool job - hang out and listen to music all day and get to talk to people about music.”
He agrees that brick-and-mortar music stores may not always be around, but the value of an independent store will not cease. “There is still value to be gotten at your independent record store - things that aren’t mainstream, and discovering new music,” he says.
Athens has supported only one record store for the past four years. Schoolkids Records stopped selling music in its Court Street location in 2004, deciding to focus on a different area of the business, and the two or three short-lived corporate record stores in the University Mall are long gone.
Gunn notes that business in Athens requires planning. “You have four months of the year when the town is half the size it is at other times,” says Gunn, “you have to make sure at the end of spring you have enough money in the bank to get through summer.”
He says he looks forward to the switch to semesters, and likens the adjustment to the expansion of State Street. “Three years after, no one will remember that it was any other way,” says Gunn. “Like when State Street went from two lanes to four, now you can’t imagine it going back. You think, ‘Why was it not that way the whole time?’”
Simple business plans are what he thinks will help to navigate through the shaky economy.
“Business owners need to be realistic with where things really are: track what you are selling, pay attention to trends in your business, don’t assume that things are going to change for the positive. If it is not viable anymore, you are better off to cut the losses.”
He likes being where he is, and often has customers visit from out of town. People had to search for the store when it was in the basement. “Now people will walk by, walk in and check it out,” he says.
The arrival of large chain businesses in Athens, such as Walmart, hasn’t hurt, Gunn says, but instead opens opportunity. It prevents other large chain stores from locating here. And when the customer can’t find what they want at the larger stores, they are sent to Haffa’s. “You can find that space to exist in their shadow, or thrive in it: what aren’t they selling, what aren’t they doing that people in the community want.”
He thinks the alternative record store will always be worth the visit. “A dark scary record store, those were the stores you found stuff, where the best stuff was to be found,” says Gunn. “People (own) it because that is what they love to do, not because they are trying to buy a second home.”
“Americans have lived on cheap credit and we all had fun at the party,” he continues. “It’s going to take a while for that to unwind. Banks have to loan within their means, people have to live within their means.”
He likens America to a massive aircraft carrier. “It doesn’t matter who is at the helm,” he says. “They can steer it a little to the left, a little to the right, but it’s really hard to turn the thing around.” Still, he has hope for America’s re-start. “We have to think about what we can do to get the heart beating again and try to clean up the mess.”
As a community member, he tries to be realistic about his standing. “We’ve got lots of loyal customers,” Gunn says. “There are a lot of people I know that if we ever did shut down they would be really bummed. I think we’ll be here for a while, I’m pretty confident of that.”
What does he see a decade from now?
“In ten years,” he says, “I hope people still care about music and still want to buy some. I hope we can change enough to still be a successful business without losing the feel I’ve always liked about the place - supporting independent music, not mainstream.”
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