Lost in paradise-Spending the afternoon at a local "record shop".

I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I drove by K & M Records (117 North Chestnut Street  Ravenna, OH 44266) over the past month or two. I'm not even sure when the shop opened it's doors for business. All I know is that any place that sells "rare records, CDs and DVDs" (or some such similar sign!) is a place I need to visit. I am a big believer/supporter when it comes to Mom and Pop record stores. Around my neck of the woods there are not too many. Sure, we have used record stores, but they are a "name brand" affair. I always like the down and dirty stores where it was more about "the hunt". Not that this particular store is down and dirty.  K & M Records is almost more like a thrift store for music and movie fanatics. For someone like me (who struggles with physical pain and the emotional pain of missing someone) it is a great distraction. So, all of that is fine and good you might say, but why write an article about it? Well, I do it as an encouragement to shop your local "record" store and keep the industry alive. Now, since I had the kids with me I could spend as long as I would have liked to at K & M Records, but the finds were great regardless. This place really is more vinyl then anything else (wow, crazy amount of LPs and 45s!), but I walked away with my own little treasures as did the kids. First thing I did was search through a box of CD "singles". I picked up some great promos including a Trouble one, one from Chaos UK and even The Spudmonster's album "Stop The Madness". On a wall of CDs filled with every kind of genre you could imagine I found Hanoi Rocks-"Dim Sum", Skin Yard's "1000 Smiling Knuckles", Gruntruck's "Push" and a best-off from Brownsville Station. Not bad. Next to that wall was a selection of DVDs where I picked up the cheesy cult horror film "Scalps" and then in the VHS section I found a movie which really needs a DVD release, "Popcorn". The kids found a nice assortment of DVDs and VHS tapes as well so all in all it was a nice little treat. Everything was very reasonably price and, in addition to the already mentioned movies and music, the store offered a little of everything from cassette tapes to trading cards. In other words it was a perfect way to kill 30 minutes. Hopefully I can get down there myself to really spend time looking over things as the assortment was impressive. The store looks as if it buys music and movies as well so, if you live in my part of Ohio, stop on by. As I said these are the type of stores that need our business. This is local business at it's best and if we don't support these independent operations they really will be gone in the blink of an eye.


PS, This was my first time ever stepping into this local shop and I hope to visit again soon. I have nothing to gain by promoting this local business (other then having a local business like this survive- which is good for music lovers like me), but I do believe that it is up to you and I to make sure that record stores survive.