Thirty-two years after opening shop in Noe Valley, Streetlight Records is closing its flagship store. The 24th St. music outlet is shuttering due to a combination of poor CD sales and rising rents. General manager Jeffrey Moss send out a statement today saying the remaining Streetlight stores in San Francisco (2350 Market Street ) as well as the ones in San Jose and Santa Cruz will remain open, so all isn't lost in the world of independent music retailers. It is a bummer, though, to hear about
The Virgin megastore died? Drag.
The plaintive statements from city officials when the Virgin megastore announced it was closing shop seemed slightly un-San Francisco. Isn't this the city that hates big box stores with such a vengeance that they're blocked from taking root by anti-corporate NIMBY mobs? More specifically, aren't the San Francisco counterparts of John Cusack and Jack Black in High Fidelity performing air-guitar riffs of exhilaration upon hearing the corporate Man was leavi
In the old days of the music industry, label staff loaded up their station wagons with vinyl albums and promotional goodies, and set off on Odyssey -like road trips across America, stopping at every mom'n'pop retail shop along the way. The goal was to establish direct, personal relationships with record stores, and to forge a connection between retail, artist, and label which has become increasingly rare these days.
So you've got to give it up to Seattle-based indie reissue specialists Light in
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