Finders searches for edge in music market

When Greg Halamay first opened Finders on North Main
Street in Bowling Green, the big seller was the vinyl LP.That was 40 years ago, and
since then the ways to listen to recorded music have proliferated. "There are so
many ways you can listen to music," Halamay said.And the ways to purchase those
sounds have also changed.Riding that wave of technological change has been the
challenge for independent music retailer like Halamay, and one that many didn’t
survive.At one point, Halamay said, he operated five stores. But since he closed his
Findlay store in 2007 in the wake of the 100-year flood there, he’s had one, a
6,500-square-foot store that serves as an anchor in the downtown business district.He
estimated there are only about 600 independent record stores still in business
nationwide. Finders will be open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.Those audio survivors will have their
day on Saturday when National Record Store Day will be celebrated across the country,
including at Finders.The event, Halamay said, celebrates the culture of the independent
record store, as a place where music lovers can visit and browse and revel in the music
of their time.Many artists including Bruce Springsteen, Justin Townes Earle, Arcade
Fire, Phish and dozens of other artists are issuing special recordings on Record Store
Day.Many of those releases are on vinyl, a sign of the resurgence of the once moribund
medium. Now Halamay says vinyl records account for about 15 percent of his
sales.Halamay started the store with his father Roger Halamay, who had worked in the
music business in many capacities starting as a musician. Greg Halamay moved here from
Akron to attend Bowling Green State University where he was a liberal studies major.He
started the store at the end of his sophomore year when he was 19, and his academic
career ended six months later.Back then his peers represented a large share of his
consumer base. That’s a constant. Many devotees of buying physical products are those
same individuals who started as collectors back when they were in college.Now "I’d
guess 65 percent if university students have no need for a record store," Halamay
said.At first the store was the central room of the current shop at 128 N. Main St.
Halamay bought the building and expanded into the room next door. Eventually he also
bought the building to the north and extended into that space. The whole store got a
facelift in 1997 when it got its distinctive frosted picture window facade.Owning his
own buildings has helped his business survive. Many of his fellow store owners have gone
out when faced with the renewing leases.Over the years vinyl had to share space with
cassettes and then was displaced by CDs. It was about 10 years ago that technology
really started taking a bite out of Finders’ trade.Online sales took off, and big box
stores started using CDs and DVDs as loss leaders to lure customers. Then downloading,
illegal at first, took its toll.Now the record store must contend with the convenience
of legal sites led by Apple’s iTunes.Still the physical object has a beauty, as well as
information in the liner notes. That’s still true to some extent with CDs, but the LP,
especially the classic gatefolds of the 1960s and 1970s, offered a particularly
attractive canvas.Over the years, the popularity of rock has been unchecked. Still
Halamay is proud that Finders has stocked the range of music – country, folk, world,
jazz and classical."That emphasizes our profile as a full service record
store," he said.While sales may not be great in some genres, he said, if he
stopped carrying a genre someone would be on the phone the next day looking for that
music.The record store’s biggest advantage, Halamay said, is the ability to browse. It
serves as a lure to those who come in weekly, even daily, basis."All record stores
find their own niche within their communities."And with record stores becoming an
endangered species that community spreads.Halamay noted: "We have customers from a
100 mile-radius."