An Actual Honest to Goodness Retail Win?
The short list of Silver Spring stores of actual interest me will shortly increase by one. Joe's Record Paradise, a store specializing in vintage vinyl presently located on Gude Drive in Rockville is apparently planning a move to 8216 Georgia Ave. in the imaginary "Ripley District" of downtown Silver Spring.
I haven't been to the Rockville shop, though I will definitely have to check it out on my lunch break this week. Their website is presently "under construction" and doesn't have a whole lot of info on the store. Here's an unofficial description I found online:
A one of a kind record store that has not only CD's, VHS Tapes, DVD's, Posters and other music based goods, but classic vinyl records. From rare and hard to find to the most common titles you can think up.I am quite looking forward to killing countless hours in this store, and hopefully picking up a few vintage Creedence LPs.
UPDATE: Interestingly, there's a big Silver Spring connection with Joe's Record Paradise. Proprietor Joe Lee is the grandson of E. Brooke Lee, known as "the Father of Modern Silver Spring."
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19 comments:
So will they be just south of Meineke, where that billiards place used to be? I wish them good luck. As a person with a lot of vinyl - although most purchased in the 80s - I hope there's enough business to keep them going.
Yes, where Champion Billiards used to be. The most recent thing that I saw there was some tutoring place for kids that became condemned. Even after a "condemned" notice was posted on the door, I still saw some women going in and out of there. (No, I haven't been staking out the happenings here - I just happen to pass this place on a walk that I usually take around town.)
The CD/Game Exchange seems to be hanging in there pretty well targeting a similar market a couple of blocks away. I know some of my friends who frequent the CD/Game Exchange will be sure to drop by this place plenty too.
Interestingly, the CD/Game exchange in Silver Spring is one of the few in the area that hasn't closed. The ones in Adams Morgan, Tenleytown and Rockville are all gone.
Joe's Record Paradise has been a Montgomery County institution since some point in the mid 1970's. I've followed them around through various locations in the Layhill, Aspen Hill, and Rockville areas. Great old and new vinyl, and a good place for hunting used CDs.
Very cool addition to the area and I'm looking forward to seeing their new layout.
Here's a surefire business opportunity: A convenience store next door to Joe Lee...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/15/AR2009111503007.html
Couple Notes about Joe's Record Paradise:
- Joe's has been around for ages and is VERY local music friendly
-In 1988 or 89 when WHFS's new corporate parent company fired Damien Einstien (WHFS Founder) because he developed a minor speech impediment after a motor cycle crash Joe through a protest concert in the parking lot of Plaza Del Mercardo. Bands from all over showed up and played. Damien stayed on at WHFS.
-Joe is Joe Lee. He is one of the Silver Spring Lees.
- Joe was recently featured in a Washington Post Article on aging pot smokers.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/15/AR2009111503007.html
-Joe took out a quarter page ad in the City Paper on the day that George Herbert Walker Bush (W's Dad) was inaugurated. It had a sketch of Ronald Regan and a headline that said "See Ya Asshole"!!!
- A few years back he and Damien Einstien started booking local bands into the old Harlequin Dinner Theater.
Chip Py
I've followed Joe's to a few of its location - so glad he'll finally be following me to downtown SS. With Joe's, Roadhouse Oldies, the CD exchange + Alliance Comics, a real funky destination identity is re-building - reminds me of SS back in the early '90s with all the cool thrifts, used book stores, Yesterday & Today records, etc.
Don't forget Vinyl Ink and Compact Discovery.
Nice!
we are happy to have the opportunity to "come home." today I moved in the first of many racks. back room shelving, really. with the new spot we will have a large back room(room closest to sidewalk) for processing and the storage of our vinyl to recycle. yes I said recycle. for a couple of years I stored the vinyl that wouldn't sell or was beyond repair looking for someone to reuse this resource. I found the guys at www.vinylux.com. their scraps and the titles they can't use ships to nashville to get chipped up and repressed into more lp's, cycle complete. go green we say! I'm even looking into solar panels for the roof. if we can afford them it's a go. they pay for themselves, really.
the move will happen the last two weeks of jan 2010, with opening day hopefully feb 1 or before. call 301 315 2235 or send an e-mail to johnson@districtsoul.com to get on our list.
vinyl is back!
johnson lee(joe's son)
also, joe is son of blair lee 3rd, brookie's brother.
Hey Joe.....what you doing with that vinyl in your hand.....duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh....duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh........Seriously, this is great news - welcome (back) to the hood and I'm looking forward to walking into your shop
I remember the Joe's Record Paradise that was in Aspen Hill's Northgate Plaza Shopping center with great fondness.
If there was one place in the area to be able to find a copy of something you really needed to hear, but nobody else still carried, chances are that you could find it at Joe's Record Paradise.
This definitely was a Hipster Haven back in that day, and it probably will be the same in the new location.
As to the vinyl, one of my Goth friends remarked about how times had changed: "used to be that vinyl was something you played music from. Now vinyl is something people wear to clubs."
Yes indeedy, can a Kewl Goffick Scene be coming back to Silver Spring? Joe's Record Paradise, Piratz, and right nearby, the Dorne Corset Shop!
@Johnson Lee: Check out NanoSolar, they have industrial quality panels with both the highest efficiency and the lowest costs in terms of almost everything. They use a nanotechnical process based on printing to lay a foil onto the backing, far more energy-efficient and less polluting than the melted-glass technology most other producers use.
Combine this with LED lighting and you can almost take the shop off of the grid.
I can't tell you how happy this makes me. I've been going to Joe's for probably 20+ years now, following him around to his various locations. I was just there about a week ago, sitting on the floor with a box of 45s in my lap and flipping through them. Having this place just down the street is going to wreak havoc on my wallet, but worth every penny!
Very stoked about this. I'd been traveling to Crooked Beat Records in Adams Morgan to do some vinyl shopping. So happy I can pick up some LPs just a short walk away! Hopefully they'll stock some good indie.
I noticed someone mentioned the business is local music friendly--interested about what this means--distribution, advertising?
Looking forward to coming into the shop.
we think that Joe's moving in down the street is great. Silver Spring will be the #1 destination in the DC area for any music/vinyl buyer. Joe's, cd.gamexchange and Road House Oldies each have something unique to offer.
Please come by and say Hi once you are open.
Welcome,
Sam
PS> let me know if you get any Northern Soul '45's
we are open!! come check us out
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