What I wanted to do was hit Cheapo, the longtime large used CD and album store. I used to spend hours flipping through the CD's; the metronomic click-clack was a distinct sound that anyone who's spent time there understand. I feel bad that I hadn't been there in a long time. I've been too busy doing other things, and I don't have the money to frivolously buy music. But browsing has been my salvation from many lonely weekend nights, especially when I was young.
Walking the half-mile there I came across the Infiniteahouse ... well, what was the Infiniteahouse. I had drank their tea three or four times, but I could never frequent the place because I had My Favorite Coffeehouse (Late-Night Division) close by, plus they weren't open late enough for me to come in and either work or dink around the Internet. But the guy behind the counter, who I believe is/was the owner, was really nice and knowledgeable about the bank of teas he had on the wall. He's good people.
Unfortunately, good people close business that fail. I think I read somewhere a long time ago that half of all businesses fail within five years. It probably was a dream of his to open up a tea shop, and my heart goes out to him because his was probably breaking every time he packed up his things and moved out of his place of business.
The place next door was cleaned out, too. I wondered if The Store was going to be like that. I haven't asked how they're going to shut things down. Are they going to clean it out? Do they need help? Part of me hopes they won't need to, because it would be too painful for me to move stuff out. But are they asking people to do it for them? Are they -- gulp -- doing that right now? I can't imagine seeing empty walls. That reinforces my reticence in going back there.
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When I finally reached Cheapo I saw they were closed. On a Friday?! A couple years ago they shortened their hours. They used to be open till midnight seven days a week, but they cut that down to 10 on weekdays.
But there was a sign at the front door stating they were open only from 10 to 10. I was afraid that the digitizing music was going to be bad for Cheapos, but I thought that there would be enough diehards who want to "see" and "feel" music concretized in their hands for it to survive. It is, but it's cutting hours. Plus, in the past couple years they dedicated more of their basement level to used books. They're going to start selling used cookware if it means filling up their square footage with sellable inventory.
Who knows how long Cheapos will last? I hope it does for a long time. It'd be bad if the owners wanted to go on but saw the writing on the wall and realized they could no longer be.
Glad The Store isn't facing the same fate. Business hasn't been great for the longest time, but profit-wise it was still worth keeping on. They just decided they didn't want to do it anymore. That's a good thing.
Or, I'm in denial about the death of The Store. One of the stages of grief.
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