Music Trader goes Main

Dave Brooks

Jason Hilbert doesn’t think it’s really too much to ask.

Every now and then, it would be nice if he could get a few more

teenagers to loiter near his store. Not the typical juvenile

delinquent crowd, but maybe just a pack of surf rats or greasers,

even the occasional crusty punk.

Hilbert could be in luck now that a San Diego-based music store

chain has announced plans to move next door into the retail space at

the corner of Orange Avenue and Main Street in Downtown Huntington

Beach.

Music Trader would be the first full-service music store in

Downtown Huntington Beach in recent memory, said Hilbert, who owns

the Underground Garment Coalition clothing store next door. That

niche could be exactly what is needed to boost the neglected feeling

of the 300 block of Main Street.

“I think it’s great because it brings a diversified crowd up the

street,” Hilbert said. “Music really hits everybody and I hope it can

get foot traffic moving more than the first couple blocks of Main

Street.”

Music Trader hopes to be opened by the end of the month, said

store manager Burt Jenkins, a tattooed punk rock musician who once

played with San Diego hardcore group Built to Last. He said the

Huntington Beach location -- the first Music Trader store to open in

Orange County -- will carry a heavy dose of punk and hard rock, but

will cater to a wider range of musical tastes. He said the store also

plans to sell new and used vinyl records.

Music Trader will specialize in used CDs and could take time to

build a strong music stock.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day, but we still thinks it’s going to be

a pretty good record store,” Jenkins said.

Former owner Jeff Clark opened the first Music Trader in San Diego

in 1987, sparking off a used CD retailer concept that became the

model for national chains like Wherehouse Music and Second Spin.

Clark also caught fire from the record industry, which unsuccessfully

campaigned for a royalty system for used records.

By 1999, Clark had opened 16 stores and eventually agreed to the

sell the chain to Oklahoma-based company CD Warehouse. Just as Clark

was pulling out, online music trading was gaining in popularity and

making a major dent in sales.

In July 2002, CD Warehouse filed for bankruptcy and closed nine of

its Music Trader stores. The remaining assets were sold to former CEO

Christopher Salyer, who now manages the reemerging chain. Jenkins

said the chain will continue to look for new ways to compete in the

fledgling used CD market.

“If things go well in Huntington Beach, I wouldn’t be surprised to

see more stores opening in Orange County,” Jenkins said.

That’s good news for Underground Garment Culture, Hilbert said,

who thinks the record store will bring more shoppers up the street.

For whatever reason, Hilbert argues, people don’t seem to trek up to

the third block of Main Street.

“On the first two blocks, you get the whole crowd hanging out, but

we’re just one block to far up. We’re on the outskirts of the

action,” he said. “We’re paying 200 block rent without the 200 block

crowd.”

Other retailers in the area have also struggled. The Tipsy Gypsy

clothing store, which featured live models acting as window side

mannequins, is closing its doors.

Hilbert said there is a definite demand for music shops in the

area.

“I have so many tourists asking me where they can get CDs,” he

said, right up with tattoo parlors.