A memoir of 25 years (1975-2000) spent working in the world of records & music in Seattle, with occasional side trips into writings on Led Zeppelin and other adventures from my musical life.
Brings back some wonderful memories of learning to be a good buyer and of Saturdays behind the back counter going through stacks of records as a buyer. Also remembering that the junk records we bought for a nickel were often sold for .25 or in “mystery packs” wrapped in newspaper for 10 for $1. Kinda a brilliant retail strategy.
Buying/doing deals, as well as approving the 30-day hold product, was definitely one of my favorite duties while working there. You really had to know the store's inventory in order to do it properly an you got first dibs on anything cool that came through! I remember a few times engaging in lighthearted tussles for some rare album as staff scrambled to stick on their initials on it first. But the buyer always had first dibs. Buying was also a way to engage in some in-depth conversation with customers and get to know them. (One of my favorite of these memories was learning how to make homemade chicken stock from Bill Rieflin when we got to talking about soup during a deal.) Sometimes they would become "your" customer and ask for you by name when selling, which was always cool.
Yes, I can confirm that official Second Time Around policy was pay as little as possible. The max for a record was two dollars, with a nickel or a quarter being closer to average. We would frequently acquire entire boxes (~100 records) for five dollars.
Mike Schwartz managed the three stores for the Geesmans. I don't know how long Mike was in charge, but he was there when I first hired on in late 1989 and lasted into the combined-store years. He was a shorter guy, with curly brown hair, glasses, a moustache, and a sarcastic, insincere affect. Mike seemed a generation removed from the rest of us, not a young hipster.
When somebody came in with records to sell, Mike would immediately ask them how much they wanted, and if they couldn't come up with a number, he'd immediately say something like "Well, if you don't know how much you want then I don't how much to offer. What if I just said two dollars for the whole pile?" This would often just send them out the door, and Mike would taunt them with a "good luck!" as they walked out.
To be fair, by 1989 many people were trading in their record collections for CDs and vinyl could be had for very cheap. If somebody had a box of typical 70s/80s titles (think Carpenters, America, Seals and Crofts, etc.) Cellophane would not buy it at all, but we would.
Brings back some wonderful memories of learning to be a good buyer and of Saturdays behind the back counter going through stacks of records as a buyer. Also remembering that the junk records we bought for a nickel were often sold for .25 or in “mystery packs” wrapped in newspaper for 10 for $1. Kinda a brilliant retail strategy.
Buying/doing deals, as well as approving the 30-day hold product, was definitely one of my favorite duties while working there. You really had to know the store's inventory in order to do it properly an you got first dibs on anything cool that came through! I remember a few times engaging in lighthearted tussles for some rare album as staff scrambled to stick on their initials on it first. But the buyer always had first dibs. Buying was also a way to engage in some in-depth conversation with customers and get to know them. (One of my favorite of these memories was learning how to make homemade chicken stock from Bill Rieflin when we got to talking about soup during a deal.) Sometimes they would become "your" customer and ask for you by name when selling, which was always cool.
Yes, I can confirm that official Second Time Around policy was pay as little as possible. The max for a record was two dollars, with a nickel or a quarter being closer to average. We would frequently acquire entire boxes (~100 records) for five dollars.
Mike Schwartz managed the three stores for the Geesmans. I don't know how long Mike was in charge, but he was there when I first hired on in late 1989 and lasted into the combined-store years. He was a shorter guy, with curly brown hair, glasses, a moustache, and a sarcastic, insincere affect. Mike seemed a generation removed from the rest of us, not a young hipster.
When somebody came in with records to sell, Mike would immediately ask them how much they wanted, and if they couldn't come up with a number, he'd immediately say something like "Well, if you don't know how much you want then I don't how much to offer. What if I just said two dollars for the whole pile?" This would often just send them out the door, and Mike would taunt them with a "good luck!" as they walked out.
To be fair, by 1989 many people were trading in their record collections for CDs and vinyl could be had for very cheap. If somebody had a box of typical 70s/80s titles (think Carpenters, America, Seals and Crofts, etc.) Cellophane would not buy it at all, but we would.