Durango may become a town without a music store.
Southwest Sound, which has been selling music in Durango since 1977, has announced it will close its doors in a few months if it cannot find an interested buyer to take over the downtown mainstay.
“I don’t want to leave the town without a place to go buy music because it’s a very spiritual thing,” said the store’s owner, Robert Stapleton. “But we’ve been trying to sell it for a while, and we haven’t had a lot of bites or interest.”
Stapleton bought Southwest Sound, located in the 900 block of Main Avenue, in 2002, after spending more than three decades working for Tower Records.
However, Stapleton said the time has come to move on, driven by family reasons, as well as the reality that the music industry has been irrevocably changed by the internet and digital downloads.
“It’s just a lot of things, and we figured it was time,” Stapleton said.
Across the country, independent record stores have struggled to survive the internet age, with retailers like Amazon and streaming services such as Spotify upending local businesses.
“The biggest thing I think has changed, is that music, and recorded music in particular … doesn’t really seem to have a tangible value anymore to a lot of people,” Stapleton said.
Southwest Sound was able to bear the downward trend for so long because of its loyal customers, and a revived interest in vinyl, Stapleton said.
“We wouldn’t have made it as long without them,” he said. “Those people have a love of music and value of music that a lot of people nowadays don’t.”
Southwest Sound doesn’t have a date set for when it will close. Instead, Stapleton hopes an interested buyer will swoop in to save the town’s only dedicated music store. Anyone interested is encouraged to call the store, he said.
Still, the prospect of living in a town devoid of any record store has music lovers in Durango facing a bleak reality.
“I think it sucks,” said Bryant Liggett, station manager at KDUR. “We’re not only losing a record store, we’re losing a place where people can go and talk about music, and that’s a drag.”
Liggett said that since he moved to Durango about 22 years ago, a handful of independent records stores have come and gone, but Southwest Sound has always been the reliable downtown shop to pick up new music.
“Now, the only stores left in town that sell records are thrift stores, and that’s a problem, because I don’t need anymore Dan Fogelberg albums,” Liggett said. “Not that there’s anything wrong with Dan Fogelberg.”
Jon Lynch, program director for KDUR, said given the economic reality for brick and mortar music stores, it’s not likely Durango will see a new record store anytime soon if Southwest Sound closes.
“I want to be able to go to the record store and talk with people of similar interests, and it’s sad to me,” Lynch said. “I don’t know if I want to live in a town without a record store. But I don’t know, I’m sad and angry.”
With the future uncertain, Stapleton wanted to make a point of thanking the community of Durango.
“It’s been a blast,” he said. “I’ve loved it here.”
It’s been a bad few weeks for music lovers. At the end of March, Katzin Music & Studios, a music supply store, closed after 39 years in business.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
