Spin Street music store to close in January

Spin Street Music, at the corner of Poplar Avenue and Highland Street, announced on Nov. 3 that it will close. 

Declines in the sales of the store’s items, including anime and Manga bobble heads, new and old DVDs and vinyl records among other products,  meant the store was no longer profitable enough to remain open.

“Our lease expires at the end of January, and we were unable to negotiate new terms with the landlord that would allow the store to remain open,†John Anderson, chief financial officer of FYE Entertainment, the company that owns Spin Street, said.

Anderson said the decision was made a few weeks ago, and they do not have plans to open the store in another location. He also does not know what will happen to the current location after Spin Street closes.

A Spin Street employee confirmed the plans to close in January and said the store will sell all their remaining goods at a discounted price. Many customers felt unhappy about the store’s closing and hope something good will replace it.

Morris Desean, a 30-year-old Memphian, buys DVDs from the store and said he was sad about the closing. He said he loved the store’s deals and hopes it is replaced with something similar.

Ashli King, one of the store’s customers, was at the store hoping to get some t-shirts and CDs before the store was no more.

“I am a little sad about it closing,†32-year-old King said. “This is like a staple in Memphis. We used to come here all the time and get DVDs for our daughter.â€

Justin Kerr, a 36-year-old Collierville resident, used to come to Spin Street before the current owners FYE Entertainment bought it, so he said the closing “is whatever†and was a “long time coming.†Kerr usually buys CDs and said DVDs at the store, and he hopes whatever replaces the store helps the community.

Colten Baker, a customer of the store, said its closing was “bittersweet.â€

“It’s great because the sales are nice, but it’s really sad because this is a great store, and there aren’t a whole lot of places like this that have memorabilia, cool graphic tees and also great music and vinyls,†Baker said.

Baker, a 21-year-old University of Memphis student from Jonesboro, Arkansas, said he was not surprised because he saw the Hastings store in his hometown close as well.  

“The great thing about Memphis is it is more culturally grounded area and city, so there are more places around where you can find vinyls and pop culture-type things,†Baker said.

Still, Baker likes the idea of another store like Spin Street in the city.

“It would be fabulous if we could get something more similar to this to pop up,†he said.