Record Store Day Co-Founder Closing his Atlanta Record Store?

For the last few years, Record Store Day has been rife with groups releasing rarities, limited-edition vinyl and other items to celebrate the good ol' pre-digital days of buying albums off actual shelves.

But that music nerd holiday may face a blast of tragic irony this year as Record Store Day co-founder Eric Levin could see his Criminal Records shop closing on Nov. 1.

According to an article Tuesday in the Atlanta Journal Constitution -- and later reported by punknews.org -- Levin says some business decisions during the country's recession have been to blame. "We've been underwater since the economy became distressed," he said. "We've been on a rescue mission for three years. I'm done paying for it by myself."

As has been the case with most music retailers, the ease of downloading songs (legally and otherwise) as well as competition from "big box" stores has been huge obstacles to overcome. Levin also said moving to a bigger location, hosting live in-store gigs and a four-day store closure thanks to an ice storm last January also didn't help him.
"I gave myself until the 20th anniversary and if I was still drowning by August 2011, I'd pull the plug," Levin told the paper, adding he's thinking of having a liquidation sale despite speculation that some artists and musicians hope to keep the store afloat by selling their own merchandise there.

Criminal Records posted some follow-up info on Twitter after the article. "OK, y'all, please hold off on the RIPs and farewells," the tweet said Sept. 6. "We're not dead and gone yet. We are going to try and #SaveCriminalRecords." Yesterday the store thanked everyone "for the support & encouragement" adding they were trying to save the store. "We are not giving up."

Rock group The Antlers tweeted about the store's possible closure Tuesday: "SAVE CRIMINAL RECORDS! What can we do?" Meanwhile former Drive-By Truckers member Jason Isbell also tweeted regarding the news: "Awful. Just awful."

Meanwhile a "Save Criminal Records" Facebook page has also been set up with more than 7,500 "likes" so far.