We have arrived at the final days of The Record Store in Howell. The final day of business will be January 31st, 2019.

The store is very close to my house and flipping through the vinyl albums was like a time portal to my youth. The store features a lot more than just more than just music, with equal space being given to comic books and action figures from popular movies and TV shows, but the albums were what drew me there. Finding an old Moody Blues album that I owned at one time was akin to opening a prized present on Christmas morning as a child. Bin after bin of nostalgia awaited my attention and the two hours I spent digging through the treasure trove passed like two minutes.\

Virtually every album I recognized reminded me of two more albums I wanted to look for. It wasn’t just old music, though, The Record Store also had a surprisingly large selection of current artists that still released albums on vinyl. The owner of the store, Jeff Lega, told Jersey Shore Online that his passion for the business waned as the non-music items started taking center stage in the store. The way in which comic book publishers use “gimmicks” like releasing multiple versions of the same issue was particularly galling. A recent trip to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame reminded him that music was his first love and that, along with turning 60, convinced him it was time to move on.

They are having a liquidation sale until the store closes, with anything left over to be sold on Ebay. He noted that he did not sell the business or the name, so there’s a chance, albeit remote, that it could return. All I want to know is: is the giant cassette tape on the roof for sale?

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