By Nicholas Lira, Oct. 1, 2024
The Glass House Record store, a staple of downtown Pomona, closed its doors after almost two decades Sept. 30.
The record store, that offered over 10,000 LPs in a vast number of genres, opened in 2006, just 10 years after the Glasshouse Venue next door opened.
The record store, however, has not been as successful as the venue next door. The demand for vinyl is there but people are not walking around as much in downtown Pomona
“It’s just been slow the past two years, there’s not enough foot traffic, people don’t really walk around as much,” The Glass House Record Store employee Ivan Castaneda said.
Despite 2023 being the largest year for vinyl sales in the United States in over two decades, since Luminate started tracing music related data, The Glass House Record Store is among several businesses that closed their doors in 2024.
Castaneda said that the local store struggled with record labels jacking up wholesale prices of vinyl, making customers pay extra $10-15, compared to a $8 subscription to music streaming services that offer millions of songs.
The price hike may come with the increase in the popularity of vinyl. Almost half of all sold albums in 2023 in the U.S. were vinyl LPs, according to the Luminate U.S. Year-End Music Report for 2023. According to the same report, for the third time in a row, vinyl albums sales outsold CDs, while Taylor Swift’s “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” is the first vinyl album that reached a million copies sold.
Artists have begun to sell their own vinyl on their own websites which adds to the pricing hike of vinyl. As well as offering limited edition vinyl which plays the same album but on a different colored disc print.
Even with prices escalating there are some who genuinely miss the adventure of going into a record store shopping around. They miss thumbing through new arrivals, new releases and rare finds.
Cal Poly Pomona senior and sociology student Shelby Sandavol said that her favorite part of the experience is searching through crates of LPs, going album by album.
“One of my favorite parts about record shopping was going in with no plan, just to peruse and see what speaks to me,” Sandoval said.
A record store offers an opportunity to explore the world of music where everything is pretty much a mystery until the needle hits the disc.
With vinyl, listeners genuinely care about the album as well as the artist. According to CPP junior Johnny Medina, a political science student, it may have cost an extra $20 but the experience the artist curates on a vinyl record is fully appreciated.
“If you buy vinyl, it’s because you like that artist and really enjoy their music,” Medina said. “I’m buying vinyl from either my favorite album or artist.”
Medina also mentioned that vinyl is more than just music, much like a tattoo, once you get one it is very hard to stop. Growing a collection and being able to show off personal interests in a song, artist or genre of music to friends and family is a genuinely unique experience.
Though Glass House Record Store is closed the owners are aware they won’t be completely cleaned out of all inventories. Any leftover vinyl, CDs or cassettes will be moved to a sister location in Atwater Village at Record Safari LA.
While the Pomona Glass House Record Store said its final goodbyes, current vinyl record sales send a clear message that six decades after the vinyl boom of the 1960s, appreciation for physical albums is thriving once again.
Feature image courtesy of Nicholas Lira