This the third time we have built a new Hoodlums (pics of each prior location here). Each “building a record store” effort has been very different.. except for one nasty little project that remains the same:
Gutting my personal CD collection to help build up the store’s used CD Sections!!
The first time, when we opened Hoodlums in 1998, it ended up being 1,500 CDs – a little more than half my total collection (built since the mid-eighties, including eight years managing/working at Wherehouse and three more at Zia). The second time, when we expanded the store in 2001, it wasn’t as drastic, about 500 CDs, but due to the improved nature of the overall collection, it was still a batch of beloved CDs.
This time it could get even uglier.
My collection has grown again… and (I dare say) improved in quality, so the damage could be more significant than the first two attacks. This is particularly true because the new store is going to have bigger jazz, blues, and world music sections. That means I have to go hard at three sections that I have worked hard to build over the seven years since I did this last (see geek in picture).
Oh yeah, we’ll have a ton of used rock CDs in our used section – so those’ll need to get hacked too.
Luckily, my buddy Paul at Twist and Shout told me how many times he’s had to pull from his collection – including a recent pull that doubled my entire collection but barely dented his – and made me feel better about what I am about to do (see the “Oracle Paul” post).
One more small note of comfort: Kristian has to pull too – so I at least have a partner to share my pain.
Anyway, if you are a customer – come in and take advantage. In the meantime, I’ll probably whine my way through the process on the blog.
[...] to contribute to the used stock at the new Hoodlums. If you happened to read the post on “Gutting the Collection” (which I assume no one ever has… just like I assume no one will read this… yeah, [...]