Saying Goodbye to Music Biz
Right before Thanksgiving break, Charlie called to tell me that Music Biz would be going out of business. From the sounds of it, the company that owns the chain and the small record label that produces cheap country b-sides had a bit of a vendetta with the Alton store, thus the untimely closing of the city's remaining music haven (Slacker's doesn't count).
Since Music Biz was such a big part of my life for so long, it's hard to see it go. It was one of those jobs that I'll tell my kids about, and probably a job that they'll never have the pleasure of experiencing. The people at the indie stores like Music Biz end up being like a second family, and with the exception of Krannert (and even then, just barely) I've never actually felt happy to go to work every day.
So I swung by last week to exchange the Nickelback CD that Greg bought me as a joke and to say hello to Charlie and Laura. The bins are starting to clear out, and even though they joke about it, everyone there is bumming. For Charlie, I'm sure it's like a little part of him is dying, but he won't admit it. The guy's been there longer than I've been in school.
It's hard to rationalize why a store closing affects people so strongly, but for me, at least, Music Biz was always more than just a store.