… a blog post from Chairman’s Corner.

Hey hey hey everybody. Record Store Day is just a couple of days away, coming up mighty quick here on Saturday, April 12th! In the world of physical media, it seems that Portland, OR has really stepped up its game lately. This town has many, MANY record stores – not to mention some places where you can find Blu-Rays, DVDs and more…

A new “horror-centric” book and video store by the name of Midslumber Media (located at 1609 NE Alberta St) just opened its doors in PDX on March 22nd. Not only does this spot contain Blu-Rays & DVDs, but they also have VHS tapes, LaserDiscs and film soundtracks on vinyl. Quite the unique setting.

Music History is one of the newer record stores in town – and while it’s a fairly small shop, they feature a nice variety of musical genres (not to mention some amazing t-shirts in their small vintage clothing collection).

As we all know, running any kind of business isn’t always a day at the beach – and of course sometimes businesses are either forced to move or (unfortunately) forced to just close up shop altogether. It sure is tough out there sometimes. While Everyday Music shut down its location on NE Sandy Blvd a while back, many of us in PDX are grateful for the surviving location downtown – not unlike Music Millennium and Jackpot Records (two other spots that are currently down to just one location). Late last year, 2nd Avenue Records (one of Portland’s most beloved record shops; pictured above) was told that they would need to move out of their legendary space. No explanation was given, and once 2nd Ave publicly announced the bad news, music lovers all around the city (and far beyond!) were incredibly bummed out. The shop had been sitting there on SW 2nd Ave in downtown PDX for 42 years. At the time of the sad announcement, it wasn’t clear if the iconic record store would be able to successfully relocate. Luckily, it turns out that miracles occasionally still do happen – as 2nd Avenue Records just recently announced that their new location in Portland will continue to be on…SW 2nd Avenue (121 SW 2nd Avenue to be exact; just a few blocks north of their old location downtown). Perfect – and a huge CONGRATS to 2nd Avenue Records for pulling this off!!!

Now, even new bars are opening in PDX that are centered around physical media! After all, some folks are getting burned out on streaming. Cult Classics, for example, is a new bar (pictured above) in SE Portland that is decorated with various VHS titles – and they host movie nights there as well.

Here’s a partial list of some local Portland record stores. To all of you in PDX and beyond, have a great Record Store Day – and much LOVE to anyone and everyone who is doing their part to keep physical media ALIVE.

Cheers,

Jeffrey “Chairman” Couch

Music lover, creator & collector

chairman@spinneymedia.com

Chairman currently enjoys freaking out & creating panic with his spastic rock band Nasalrod, which is based in Portland, Oregon. He created this blog to share his serious love of music, the arts, and physical media.