Hi! This is one of those READ ME posts. Many people approaching the door seem confused that the shop's not open so I'm hoping to reach as many of those folks as possible. I have pericarditis. It's a thing. Last October, it landed me in the hospital with reoccurring chest pains and respiratory issues. I take anti-inflammatory medication twice a day. Believe me, you know others with worse preexisting conditions, but that's mine.
Record stores don't have a ton of surfaces to wipe down. Instead we have crevices – thousands of little plastic covered crevices – each with the capability of housing the virus for up to 72 hours. To those who are using the published inventory list, placing orders, and picking them up using the appropriate precautions.... thank you, thank you, thank you. Sure, it's a little weird shopping for records off of a spreadsheet and stock videos, but you can guarantee that they are the SAFEST records to buy in town.
Things around us aren't what they seem. There is an illusion of safety driven by other interests. As states reopen and the infection rate comes back up, remember that we're all in a position to help each other. So please, help each other. The shop will open again, but for now, being part of the solution instead of part of the problem just seems like the right thing to do.
Friday releases (current and recent) include: Steve Earle (indie edition), James Elkington, Everything But The Girl, Houses Of Heaven (milky clear), Rafael Anton Irisarri (black smoke), Clarice Jensen (for fans of Nils Frahm and Julia Kent), Machine Learning Experiments (Augustus Muller of Boy Harsher!), Eve Owen, RIDE (limited clear), and Jerry Paper (green).
If you look at this graph, it should be pretty clear that we are not in a position to reopen the store on Monday. We've been receiving lots of calls and messages from people wanting to come in and "browse," which of course, entails touching everything. We're just not comfortable with it yet, folks. We believe that the state's decision to start reopening is mostly about offsetting the financial burden of unemployment on both state and federal governments. We're not making a political decision here, but we do feel that we're making the right one. We will resume pickups as of Monday and will continue to do so unless we're asked to stop again, but we are not permitting people to come into the store and touch everything as of yet. We hope that you understand and support this decision. After all, it's your support that's kept us around for so long and we want to ensure that people of all ages have a comfortable and safe shopping experience with us when we decide to reopen.
