Permanent Records isn’t that permanent after all.
Owners of the stalwart Greenpoint record store that has been selling music on wax for seven years are closing the Franklin Street store by the end of September, who claim their landlord wants to reserve the space for a family member.
“We had a feeling that it was coming for the past six months to a year, but now we are definitely losing our lease,” said manager Matthew Milligan.
The record store, which focuses on its collection of rarities, staff picks, and dollar-bin items, opened the shop on Franklin Street between between Green and Huron streets in 2007, moving there from Northport, Long Island, where it first opened 12 years ago.
In the meantime, Greenpoint has become a record store Mecca, boasting stores such as Academy Records Annex, Co-op 87 Records, and Record Grouch.
The Permanent Records crew had hoped to stay in Greenpoint, but claimed that rising rents in the neighborhood might make that impossible.
“There are a lot of vacancies, but the rents are astronomical,” said Milligan, who wouldn’t say how much the record store presently pays. “The average cost that we have seen around the neighborhood is double what our rent is now.”
And Eisenberg added that in the age of digital downloads, it takes a special location to make a record store successful.
“It is not the kind of place you want to take anywhere,” said Milligan. “You need the right kind of neighborhood and the right kind of people around.”
LP-loving locals love say they are sad to see the shop go, as it represented the neighborhood well.
“I have been coming in here for years,” said Cassie Ulrich. “It is just one more cool business biting the dust.”
