Eugene's Record Co-op reopening in new location

Mark Urban, The Record-Eagle, Traverse City, Mich.
·4 min read

Mar. 15—TRAVERSE CITY — A record store will be spinning again come Saturday.

It just took nearly seven months to find the flip slide.

Forced to flee the only home it has known with the sale of the Arcade Building in downtown Traverse City, Eugene's Record Co-op is ready to drop the needle Saturday on a new location.

Brian Chamberlain will open the new doors March 18 at 1036 Barlow St. The former home of Shoestring Gallery will play host to a DJ spinning tunes and other promotions for the first time since closing its 140 E. Front St. location at the end of August. The opening day event is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

"I'm just ready to get back to work," Chamberlain said from the new store at the corner of Barlow and Carver streets. "Let's get back to doing what we do and letting people know where we are."

Chamberlain opened Studio Anatomy — an all-ages recording studio and music venue — in the lower level of the Arcade Building. He added Eugene's Record Co-op in December 2019.

While he wasn't able to bring back the studio at this time, Chamberlain said he's ready to get the record store rolling in the new location. Even though Eugene's isn't downtown any more, the store may benefit from its new location and on-site parking.

"We'll have more extended hours than downtown," said Chamberlain, who plans to be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday. "I can open a little earlier not being downtown and stay open a little later during the week.

"This is giving me a little bit more exposure. I can have a big sign on the road. Nobody knew we were there (downtown). It became kind of a joke."

The new location also fits in with what Chamberlain has always thought about Eugene's, named for a supporter of the local music scene who no longer lives in the United States.

"I just like the classic, old-school, neighborhood, corner record shop," said Chamberlain, who later said he chose the name because he believes in an "old-school retail shop with someone's name."

The interior of Eugene's is painted red, but is mostly black to "create the atmosphere with the artwork and the colors of the album pop out," Chamberlain said. The exterior will also get the same treatment later this summer.

The new location of Eugene's Record Co-op also puts it less than a mile away from RPM Records at 1015 Hannah Ave. Store manager Riley McCutcheon said RPM Records has been in the same location for nearly a decade and The Sound Room dates back to the late 1980s in Traverse City.

Chamberlain said he sees RPM and Eugene's creating a 'Vinyl Alley' and feeding off each other.

"Being that we were the only (dedicated) record store north of Grand Rapids, now we have a second option so it will give the locals another place to go to," said McCutheon, whose store has hundreds of thousands of vinyl records compared to about 3,000 at Eugene's. "We all know each other, a bunch of local guys."

"We're not RPM Records, but I want to have a good selection and a great mix of stuff," Chamberlain said. "A lot of new artists and new releases."

Chamberlain said Eugene's and RPM Records is all about connecting with music on a different level. He also said vinyl "isn't going anywhere for a while" and the statistics support it.

Last year was the 17th consecutive year vinyl album sales grew in the U.S. according to Luminate, which began tracking data in 1991.

"There's something so romantic about something you can hold in your hand," Chamberlain said. "You're touching with music in a different way. It's solid, it's tangible.

"It's something you don't realize consciously. Your mind and body connects with it. You just have a bond and it's more meaningful."

While Chamberlain wasn't able to get Studio Anatomy open again, he does plan to offer two rehearsal rooms in the basement below Coin Slot at 346 E. Front St. He said the rehearsal rooms will both have audio systems with one having instruments and the other without.

"That'll be something you can book kind of 24 hours a day," Chamberlain said, who also hinted at a potential community creative space downtown again later this year. "I want to set it up where it's like an Airbnb where you punch in a code."

In the meantime, it will be about turning Eugene's into a place to buy and sell vinyl, cassettes and CDs. Eugene's will also sell new turntables, make audio repairs and even convert audio and video to digital, something that Chamberlain has done for years.

Eugene's has listening stations inside the store and a couch near the front entrance. There are plans to have a table and chairs outside in warmer weather.

"I want to make it a space where people feel comfortable hanging out," Chamberlain said.