The owners of The Soundhouse want to shut down their store on a good note.
Mike Williamson and Davin Kemshed have operated the music and record store in downtown Red Deer for eight years. In a Thursday Facebook post, they announced they plan to shut down the store on Record Store Day, April 21.
The commercial realtors wanted to resurrect Records to the Rafters, which was operated for years by Bill Creighton where the Soundhouse is now located.
Though they may no longer be able to put in the effort to keep the Soundhouse going, they are open to passing the torch as Creighton once did with them. They are interested in having discussions about continuing the store with new owners or selling off some of their inventory so someone else can get a head start on something similar.
In a lengthy post to the store’s Facebook page, the co-owners outline their decision and hope for a memorable grand closing.
Though they never had a grand opening day, Record Store Day, April 21 will be their grand closing celebration with sales and many titles to choose from.
But Williamson and Kemshed adamant that the decision to close the Soundhouse has nothing to do with economics, but is more a decision forced because of how busy they are.
The two started the business as a passion project.
“We didn’t know what to expect when we opened the doors, but we are happy with how it turned out,” reads the post. “We aren’t ‘going out of business,’ this is completely on our terms.”
Running the store, open Monday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 :30 p.m., is no longer feasible for the two, who are very busy with their other jobs, family and life in general.
“There have been literally thousands of hours invested into this business over the years, but we are finding it increasingly difficult to keep putting in these hours.”
In the meantime, they say they will continue to order LPs and maybe a guitar-related accessory. But they won’t be bringing in new guitars, amps or pedals. People with store credit balances are encouraged to use them promptly.
mcrawford@reddeeradvocate.com
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