Is opening a record shop brave or foolish?

Opening a record shop might seem foolhardy with music sales in decline, but a new Dublin store is giving it a spin

IT SEEMS LIKE an illogical move that goes against everything that’s happening in the sector, but a small homegrown independent retailer is about to open a large record store in one of the most high-profile shopping spots in Dublin city centre.

E2Music, a music and DVD shop that buys and sells second-hand products, is undertaking a surprise expansion into College Green in Dublin, in a building previously occupied by Halifax, next to the old Habitat homewares shop on Dame Street. Currently, its lease is set to expire in March, when the owners, Aaron McGoona and Darach Kane, will decide whether to stay on.

Around the country, record stores are falling like dominos. Only a few exceptional models have survived, namely those that have diversified far beyond selling humble CDs (a product many large chains now keep in their basements, with DVDs, games and merchandise such as T-shirts out front); have added other elements to their outlets, such as a live music space or cafe; have developed and sustained a hardy and loyal community fan base and regular customers; or have created a strong niche, such as the Into the Void metal record shop and tattoo studio in Dublin 8. But even then it’s one of the toughest retail games to be in, a challenging sector in a challenging industry.

E2Music began 12 years ago in Navan, expanding in 2008 to Mullingar. Its move to the capital comes as record stores such as Road Records, on Fade Street in Dublin 2 (which reopened as the Rage, focusing more on vintage computer games than music), have closed and Borderline Records in Temple Bar is in the process of shutting. BPM Records in Waterford and Wexford have closed. City Discs and Comet Records have shut up shop in Dublin. And in Galway, Redlight and Zhivago have also ceased. The trend is an international one, but E2Music is hoping its ambitious business model can buck it.

“Our business is primarily buying and trading, based on the Amazon model,” McGoona says. The act of buying old CDs from music fans and reselling them is something record stores have been doing for decades, but, McGoona believes, “most second-hand stores are specifically second-hand stores, but we gave it a mainstream feel.” Abour half of E2Music’s products are used; the other half are new.

“Because we’re independent, we try and keep the music selection as indie as possible,” says McGoona. “We recase everything, so the product looks nearly new. The mix of stock within stores has kept us going.”

Dave Kennedy and Julie Collins closed Road Records last year, and Kennedy is uncertain about how wise anyone would be to open a record store right now. “It’s not something I would personally do. I’m not entirely sure if things will change around – maybe eventually, but it’s a good few years away.”

Gasping at the idea of a 185 sq m retail space selling music, Kennedy says the key thing is price, and that second-hand CDs and records are still too expensive in Ireland, “I really hope it goes well for them,” Kennedy says. “Having gone through what we’ve gone through, there’s a lot of heartache involved.”

E2Music is not the only temporary store in the pipeline. At the upcoming Hard Working Class Heroes festival in Dublin, a three-day showcase featuring 100 Irish bands, 12 independent Irish record labels are being provided with a pop-up shop facility on Saturday, October 8th, to sell their wares, ordinarily available only at niche outlets, at gigs and, of course, online. Angela Dorgan of First Music Contact, a music consultancy service that organises the festival, says an independent record shop can work in this climate.

“What I think works with something like this is if they’re bringing a community together, both the retail side and the fan,” Dorgan says.

E2Music has hosted temporary record stores at festivals, and McGoona believes it’s a model that can work in a large retail space, although he isn’t so positive about the long term even though the company has remained profitable throughout the decline of record shops.

“My fears are more for the wider picture,” he says.

However, Dorgan believes that a new outlet can do well. “A record store opening again can only be good news if people will embrace it for what it should be – bringing a community emphasis back into a record shop.”