http://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw/index.ssf/2010/02/post_39.html
By Deborah Brown
February 05, 2010,
When Bill Wegner was laid off from his audio/visual job in 1974, he
and wife Judy took a leap of faith and $80 to open their own business.
"I loved music," Bill Wegner said. "I suggested it would be fun to
have a little store and make a little investment. If it didn't work,
we could just sell it off."
Thirty-five years later, Records & Tapes Galore, 1303 Court in
Saginaw, is going strong.
The Wegners have observed as technology has changed from vinyl
records, eight-track and cassette tapes to digital discs and
downloadable formats that have eaten into hard-copy sales.
"The industry has come full circle back to record albums," Bill Wegner said.
Today, the rack behind the counter that Wegner designed to hold 45's
is filled with DVDs, and the old card file that customers used to
track their purchases and Judy Wegner's potted violets, evidence of
her longtime hobby, are gone.
But much of the shop remains unchanged.
The Saginaw Township couple still sell used eight-track, cassette and
vinyl albums displayed in homemade album racks. The Wegners' growing
inventory of used LPs is evidence of a resurgence. Bill Wegner also
finds out-of-print albums and will special-order new ones.
"Music sales are down, but we're selling vinyl along with CD's," he
said. "Kids are getting back into records."
A Nielson SoundScan report showed 2.1 million vinyl albums were
purchased through late November, more than any other year since the
company began tracking LP sales in 1991. Vinyl record sales rose 14
percent between 2006 and 2007, while CD sales fell 35 percent from
553 million in 2006 to 360 million in 2008.
Bill Wegner attributes the growth to two factors: First, the
participatory act of placing the arm of the needle to the record
after removing it from the sleeve; and second, the sound of a vinyl
record as it differs from the digital forms. Some experts in the
field have stated vinyl recordings are superior to the digital disc.
"The records are better quality than the old days, made with a
heavier weight vinyl," he said. "Many of the new vinyl albums are
being shipped with CDs inside, or with digital downloads."
Personal touch
Over Christmas break, Judy Wegner said the shop was humming with customers.
"It was like the old days," she said. "Kids were home from school or
on vacation, and they looked through everything."
Both Wegners are 67, an age when many people are retired or considering it.
"We have no plans to retire until we're about 90," Bill Wegner said.
"We'll stay here until they haul us out feet first."
On a recent winter day, the bell rang on the shop door and a customer
Bill Wegner calls "Vinyl Mikey" walked in.
"I like vinyl," said Mike Dubay, 45, who drove in from Hemlock with
his 17-year-old daughter, Jennifer Dubay, despite a 6-inch snowfall
that closed schools. "You never know when you'll hit it right and get
first crack. I specifically go out of my way to find it."
"He seems to have an instinct for new stuff," Wegner laughed about
Dubay's habit of arriving when new stock is there.
Dubay approached the counter with a few classic finds.
"George Harrison, Cheap Trick's 'Lap of Luxury,' Santana's 'Beyond
Appearances' and Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon,' " Dubay
smiled. His total: $28.
To supplement music sales, the Wegners also sell equipment brought in
by customers. They have receivers, turntables, cassette players and a
reel-to-reel tape machine. Bill Wegner can offer mechanical advice
and find turntable needles, and if he doesn't have the answer, he
knows someone who does.
"It all comes down to personal help," he said. "We enjoy contact with
the customers."
The early days
The Wegners in 1974 looked for a spot on Hamilton where they say a
hippie-like, Haight-Ashbury culture was thriving, but they couldn't
find the right match. On their way home, the couple saw a sign in a
small white building on Court.
"We talked with the owner, and he offered the shop for $80 a month,
without a bathroom," Wegner said.
They moved twice among the white buildings on the block before
settling into today's home, a brick building that once housed a meat market.
Wegner made record racks to hold the popular vinyl albums, and 45 rpm
singles lined the walls behind the cash register. Judy Wegner's hobby
raising African violets was displayed near the entrance.
The day the Wegners opened, they sold one album for $5 and were
thrilled. Their big break came in 1975 when KISS released its "KISS
Alive" album and a shipment error occurred.
A manufacturer rushed the records separately from the album jackets
to distributors, who then forwarded the records to the stores without
the jackets. The missing jackets were left in a storage container,
Wegner said.
The Wegners used a different distributor and believe they were the
only store in Saginaw that received the complete package. The album
was recorded live at many venues on the KISS tour, but the cover art
was shot at Cobo Hall in Detroit. Local kids in the photos were
anxious to buy the album, Bill Wegner said.
"We couldn't afford to advertise then," Judy Wegner said. But through
word of mouth, customers found the complete album at their store.
Now owners of the entire building, believe they are the last of the
brick and mortar shops of the kind in Saginaw.
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