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Macomb, IL – It's the season when shoppers search high and low for that perfect new gift for loved ones. But the owner of a store in Macomb is whistling a different tune. He's hoping shoppers will take a spin with an old favorite.
Bad Kitty Music is a used record store. Owner John Gorlewski has been collecting vinyl records for as long as he can remember. He's been dealing on-line for about ten years. After moving to western Illinois, he opened a booth at an antiques store in Good Hope.
"It was just an experiment to see if there was enough foot traffic to support a used vinyl store, and it's been mildly successful. So that's why I decided to open this place up," Gorlewski said.
If you were to ask Lew Prince if that's a good idea, he would quite likely respond "Yes."
Prince is CEO of Vintage Vinyl in St Louis. He is a firm believer in operating a brick-and-mortar store and not just a website.
Prince said a trip to the store provides an experience you simply cannot find on-line.
"The store is an environment that is stimulating in ways that a screen cannot be," Prince said.
"I think the culture business in particular is brick-and-mortar because it's about people-to-people communication. The screen can't give you the full nuanced communication, and that's what we hope to do."
Prince and a buddy began selling records in 1979. Back then, most new record sales were of vinyl. Today, new vinyl is making a comeback.
The Recording Industry Association of America reports the number of vinyl records shipped last year increased nearly 26%.
"It's reached a dollar amount that it has not reached since 1990," said Courtney Blankenship, Director of the Music Business Program at Western Illinois University's School of Music.
She said artists trying to stand out from the pack today sometimes do so by making their music available on vinyl.
Vinyl aficionados will tell you they enjoy the art work, liner notes, and other features that accompany vinyl releases. They also believe vinyl sounds better.
"You hear the raw sound. Anyone who loves vinyl knows that," said Kymberly Miller. "It's not mastered away. You hear the authentic voice."
Miller, who is co-owner of Shiloh's Bar & Bistro in Macomb, thinks digital music sounds "shiny."
Miller is such a big fan of vinyl that she is planning to hold a "Vino & Vinyl" night at the restaurant. She hopes it will become something akin to a record club.
As you might guess, John Gorlewski also thinks vinyl is better.
"Music has pretty much been stripped of all packaging at this point and it's just blips on a computer," Gorlewski said. "When people look back on all the various formats that have come and gone, in a lot of people's minds vinyl stands out as the best."
He points out it was the dominant format for decades.
Bad Kitty is at the corner of Carroll and Campbell Streets in Macomb, next door to City Hall. It's scheduled to open its doors for the first time on Saturday, December 3, noon to 6:00pm, just in time for the annual Dickens on the Square celebration in Macomb. Its logo was designed by Gorlewski's wife, Emily.
The store will be open just a few days a week in order to work around Gorlewski's busy schedule, which includes being a husband and father, working a full-time job at WIU, and serving as the lead guitarist for the Macomb-based band Iron Orchard.