After opening its doors in 1976, Record Theatre is officially closing them for good this summer. Leonard Silver, the founder of Record Theatre, passed away back in March which immediately lead to the closing of its Amherst location.
Even though there has been a recent surge in vinyl sales for the last few years, streaming sites such as Apple Music and Spotify have made it too difficult to compete for the record store. At its peak, Record Theater had twenty-five locations all over Western New York.
Joe Igielinski told WGRZ, “I’ve traveled around and I go to record stores all over the country and I feel this is the best one, like this whole area doesn’t realize what a place this was.” Mike Pierce, one of the trustees who voted for the closing, told WGRZ “Just analyzing the numbers, it wasn’t going to happen, it’s a big building here.”
While most people purchase concert tickets online in today’s society, Record Theatre used to be the hub for concert tickets, with long lines forming outside its doors. The store’s six-week closing sale begins on June 19th and starts with 30% off all purchases. An additional 10% will be added as each week of the sale goes on.
Record Theatre is located on 1800 Main Street, Buffalo, NY, 14208.
-Mark Goodwin, Music Correspondent
