Sad news. Despite attempts to keep it afloat in the last year and a half or so, Road Records have announced that they will sell their last ever purchases on July 24th. They just posted an explanation on their site:
“How do I begin a piece like this, without repeating everything I wrote nearly two years ago now,” begins the note from Dave and Julie.
It’s been a difficult two years since we first faced the prospects of closure and we have literally worked night and day to try and see if we could save the shop and make it a viable business again. The current economic situation in this country added to the many problems we faced in the past have finally caught up with us and we can no longer sustain this little shop.
This time, I am sad to say, there is no alternative for us, we have literally tried everything in our powers to keep this place operating and nothing has worked for us. It hasn’t been an easy decision to make, if anything its even more difficult than two years ago, we have had amazing support from people but nothing we do seems to work anymore.
With debts beginning to build again Julie and myself have finally decided that we cannot take any more risks personally and before things get any worse we will have to finally walk away from the shop for the last time.
I have to say I still have no regrets about the last 13 years, its been a real blast and a pleasure to be here over the years. We have met some amazing people and have become friends with some truly amazing bands. The level of support we have received since last year has been truly mindblowing but so much has changed economically since then that its just not possible to sustain such a small record shop like this anymore.
I am not going to give out about the music business this time around, its just one of those things and we have finally come to a stage where I think the days of the small indie store are numbered. It’s sad to have to admit that but this time I think its true, we can’t blame digital sales, illegal downloading etc, the world is a changing place and I can’t see any room in it for kooky little indie stores like ourselves.
Read the full post.
Meanwhile, the shop closing down sale begins on July 17th with everything on sale at a 25% reduction. It will close on July 24th. best of luck to Dave and Julie and all the staff with their future.
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
Gutted. The only shop in Dublin I make a point to visit if I’m up – was only there yesterday. Sad news.
Soon there’ll be nothing but HMVs all over the country, dictating our music purchases… A sad day.
This is Bollox altogether.
sad indeed. BIg ads on telly for HMV sales too, how could they compete with that crap. Go in and buy some stuff in Road when you can before it closes, i’m sure a good sale would help with the accountants/debts etc.