Cellophane Square goes down

[randy_byers]

Local music store Cellophane Square is apparently going out of business. I remember when they started out (at least to the best of my knowledge) in the space that is now a Taco del Mar on NE 42nd St. I've bought a lot of used DVDs from them in the past couple of years. Feels like a real institution is gone.

Comments

[paulcarp.livejournal.com]

Cellophane Square was a large (and lengthy) part of my life. Not just the various Seattle stores, but the one in Bellingham, which was a dark closet with used 45's when I moved here, and eventually became a huge, well-lit store with new music, videos and DVDs. In 1985 or 1986, The Young Fresh Fellows came out with Topsy Turvy, which I got to buy at Cellophane from the band's leader, Scott McCaughey, who was also the store manager.

The one in Bellingham became something else awhile ago, and is now called "Everyday Music."

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Was that store in Bellingham the first one, or did they start in Seattle? Now that you mention it, I vaguely remember a friend who grew up in Bellingham telling me they started there first.

[paulcarp.livejournal.com]

It took me awhile, but according to this 2002 P-I link, it started in the U-District in 1972.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Wow, I had no idea it had been around that long! For some reason I thought it opened in the mid-'80s, but that must have just been when I discovered it.

[eddvick.livejournal.com]

That's too bad. Can't say I bought very much there; I preferred Time Travelers, and these days I'm contributing to the downfall of the small retailer by buying used most of the time.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Lots of people in the comments section of the story I linked to agree with your assessment. For some reason I didn't make it to Time Travelers very much. Was that the one downtown? (I think I get it confused with Fallout.)

[eddvick.livejournal.com]

Yep, they were downtown, not far from Seattle Center. They closed a long long ago, unfortunately.

[holyoutlaw.livejournal.com]

I used to shop there a fair amount, back before Sonic Boom. So that was quite a while ago.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I kept going there because it was something to do on my lunch break. Now what will I do? Keep going to Magus and University Bookstore, I guess. I hope!

[eddvick.livejournal.com]

Or Half Price Books, a few blocks away.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

A little bit too far to go on my lunch break, however.

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

I'm sadly reminded of the period in the early 80s spent haunting the close-out sales of almost all the classical specialty shops, one of which was in downtown Seattle, on 5th as I recall. It was on watching the stock diminish over several visits there that I formed my prediction that, when there was only one classical LP left for sale in the world, it would be by Max Reger.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of Max Reger, but your story indicates that it's not surprising. I remember going with Ron to the Tower on Broadway in Manhattan toward the end of their close-out sale, when only the dregs were left, and feeling almost sick at the sheer quantity of music that no one wanted to buy at even drastically reduced prices.

[wrdnrd]

This is just plain awful. I don't shop there a lot, but that's because i just don't buy music at 37 the way i did at 27. Still, i stopped in there every few weeks, and just last month i went in looking for 1 CD and came out with 3. How sad the landlord wasn't willing to work with them. There's really not anywhere left in the U-District to buy new CDs, which, yes, i occasionally actually want to do.

Sigh.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the unwillingness of the landlord to bargain is kind of a WTF, although it's hard to say without details. But who do they think is going to replace them in this economic climate? I liked the joke in comments about how maybe it would become a bubble tea place. Or teriyaki!

[wrdnrd]

I often worry that if i stand still on The Ave too long i'll turn into a bubble tea place!