After 30 years in business, Music Millennium’s store on NW 23rd and Johnson is shutting down. A press release sent out this morning noted that the business noticed a decline in sales starting in September 2001, and that last year, owners had to take out a $400,000 mortgage against their building on 32nd and E Burnside “to help pay for mounting debts.”
The NW location was Music Millennium’s second location (the Burnside store was the first), opening in 1977. The store will continue to operate until the end of August.
“Terry is really a wonderful man, he’s taking it really hard,” says employee Dennis Seals, who has worked at the NW location for 10 years, via telephone. “He’s really concerned about everybody. But they’re even giving us paid time off to go and look for other jobs if we want. They’re good folks.”
“Most of us understood that it was a really intense emotional connection that Terry had with this store that was keeping us afloat,” Seals continued. “But sometimes the reality of the finances have to override your emotional connection. Terry is a really good guy from beginning to end. And they’ve worked with everybody, to make sure this will work with them.”
The press release from the store hints that MM opening a new location is unlikely:
“The closing of the NW 23rd location is a sad moment for us,” states Currier. “We have been in that neighborhood for 30 years. Music Millennium moved into the neighborhood when it was not a desirable place for retail. Now, we are being forced out of the neighborhood, like so many other independent local merchants have over the years, as the rents have escalated. In our case, both the decline of our industry and the escalating rents teamed up on us. It was not an easy decision to make. Emotion kept telling me to keep looking for a space. The effect of closing the store to both employees and customers was always at the forefront of my mind. I put a lot of time into looking for a possible new location. Practicality eventually told me that shutting down the store was crucial to keeping Music Millennium healthy and alive.”
The release also noted that all scheduled live music events will go on as scheduled until the store closes at the end of August.
More info as it comes.
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- Ad Correction: Grant & Kilgore playing at Music Mill East, NOT shuttered NW store The Music
- Red and Black All Over (for now): Cafe closes doors, looks for new space The Red a
- Ace Hotel With Stumptown Officially Open Tomorrow Portland’s
Terrible news. A sad day for music in Portland. But as long as their shop on Burnside remains standing (and it must), not all is lost. This situation underscores once again the importance of supporting local, independent businesses.
Definitely a heartbreaker. I’ve been buying at the store since I was a teenager…long ago. But I think this has more to do with the advent of the digital music economy than anything else. Sad to see it go.
This is what buying all those trendy iTunes for your iPod gets you folks…
MM’s classical annex in their Burnside store is the place to find just about whatever in the classical archive. Plus, a cool place, nice people, etc.
Bell toll’s for humans…click
.. )
Sadly, our fixation on iPods and iTunes have killed the music store. And so has piracy. What a bummer. Keep the Burnside store alive. Avoid the big box stores.
This is also a major loss for the NW neighborhood, as MM was one of the few places left on NW 23rd to remind you of its creative, funky past. Hopefully, another local business will take its place.
I know Terry and used to go the Northwest Music Millennium at least once a month, more often for summer concerts. But, doing the last couple years the atmosphere of the store changed. For example, the clerks would demand that one turn over any packages. Well, I often have my laptop with me and prefer not to put in the hands of people who might lose it. (Even more so, for my new MacBook Pro.) So, I pretty much stopped going to the store. I think that kind of thing makes a particular difference for independent businesses. Since they can’t compete on price, they need to make customers feel more, not less, comfortable, shopping. Powell’s owes some of its success to doing that.
I admit to being an iPod fan. I bought my first iPod the first day they were released, when they were Mac only. (Ditto for the iPhone.) BUT, I think people get the relationship backward between MP3 players and music stores in regard to those of us who do not use P2P networks. The person who is willing to purchase a full-size iPod is also likely to be a buyer of CDs, because he likes to own his music. Borders is one store that seems to get it. It sells music CDs, and iPods and iPod accessories. I often buy a CD and an iTunes Store card at the same time.
My wife and I are on our way to PDX for a visit and as always, spending a few hours at the Burnside store is a must stop for us. I haven’t stopped in at the NW store since I lived in Portland 20 years ago, but I’m very saddened, just as I was when D’jango’s closed.
I do feel the digital music world is killing all retail stores.
and the change was coming since the ipod and hard drive was invented.
We do however need to support this and all other local stores.
portland is also not a good place for a company.
city,state and fedral taxes, licences etc make it hard for mom and pop shops to keep afloat.
blame it on the big stores,ipod, and the goverment.
"Blame iTunes" – What a cop out.
MM-I will miss you. I lived right up the street from you and loved popping by. RIP!
Didn’t anybody tell them that the way to stay afloat in Portland is to offer Espresso?