Iconic Hamilton record store to close
Cheapies, a downtown fixture since 1980, overflowed on Saturday
HAMILTON— It had to feel good — and bad, at the same time — “bittersweet,” as Brian Jasson likes to put it.
Saturday afternoon, a lineup more than 20 people long at the cash register, and three or four times that many browsing through the store. They were riffling through records, bumping into old friends, discovering musical treasures they didn’t know existed. Saying goodbye.
Last days at Cheapies. Sounds like a movie title almost. The legendary, long-lived record store on King Street East is closing. March 27 is the scheduled last day.
“Friday, the lineup was right out the door,” said Jasson, who started selling records on King East in1978, during the screaming apogee of punk rock. If you let yourself, you could almost imagine away all the taste and technical changes that have happened in our music-buying habits over the last decades and believe you had walked into the way we were.
“It was always like this in the ’80s and ’90s,” even on an average day, said Jasson of the continuous flow of customers, drawn both by reduced prices (30 per cent off ) and a heightened sense of nostalgia.
“Where were they all? But it is fun to see people I haven’t seen in many years. And,” he said with a smile, “a lot of them apologized for not frequenting the store the way they used to.” Despite not pulling in quite the traffic it did in its heyday, Cheapies is doing well. “It’s still healthy. That’s not why I’m closing.”
He’s closing because, in his words, it’s time. The time in his life — he’s in his 60s now — and the time in the course of events and the arc of his business. He is an opponent of the LRT, and the effort he spent lobbying against it left a sour taste.
The people who poured into the store Saturday were a mix of ages and musical tastes.
Barbara Danese, who has been coming along with her family for decades, walked out with some vinyl — the “Innerspeaker” album by Tame Impala — for her son, in his 20s, who couldn’t be there.
“Look at the list he gave me,” Danese said, producing a sheet of paper with about 30 records listed. “Oh, Broken Social Scene. I know them.” Also Sufjan Stevens. Danese and her husband would always go to Cheapies when they were in their 20s, both to buy and sell.
Sameen Mahboubi was there with his friends Rico BonillaDiamond and Rob Mitchell, all in their early 20s. They’ve been coming to Cheapies since they were in Grade 9.
“My first date was here,” said Mahboubi. “It was the longest relationship I ever had.” On Saturday he bought Gucci Mane’s
“Trap House” on vinyl — trap being a subgenre of rap, Mitchell explained, one that’s focused on the issues of disintegrating inner cities.
Jasson took it all in as the store buzzed and bustled. He’s been at the current location, 67 King St. E., since 1988; the store had been at King and John since 1980. Before that, Jasson ran Record World since 1978 at 89 King East.
A customer asked him about a $44 vinyl of live acoustic Lou Reed. Jasson gave his honest opinion, saying the recording was not highly thought of. On the other hand, he added, “But look at the songs on it!”
That kind of product knowledge and frankness might help explain the store’s enduring pull. It will all be missed. The lineups don’t lie.