Birdel's Records Says Goodbye
Over the weekend City Room ran a nice homage to Bed Stuy’s Birdel’s Records, which is closing. The store opened in 1944 and the current owner, Joe Long, started working there in 1957. The shop specialized in gospel and oldies, but also sold some contemporary CDs. When we stopped by the store at 535 Nostrand,…
Over the weekend City Room ran a nice homage to Bed Stuy’s Birdel’s Records, which is closing. The store opened in 1944 and the current owner, Joe Long, started working there in 1957. The shop specialized in gospel and oldies, but also sold some contemporary CDs. When we stopped by the store at 535 Nostrand, it was open but mostly cleared out. Signs on the window thanked customers for the 50+ years of service.
Birdel’s Records in Brooklyn is Set to Close [City Room] GMAP
haha mopar – DJs don’t spin vinyl anymore!!
Birdell’s was a neighborhood institution. Sad to see it close- I don’t buy music because I’m so hard of hearing, but I loved that the store was there.
“I doubt there are many “audiophiles” in the BedStuy area”
I don’t know about that. Most people in Bed Stuy are passionate about music, and many of the men have HUGE stereo systems louder than a Meatpacking Club. And what about the whole tradition of DJ’ing and scratching?
Broadwayron, I bet there are plenty of old-timers in Bed-Stuy with turntables and their record collections. The demographic of the neighborhood isn’t restricted to those between the ages of 10 and 40. Not that the old guys have the money to buy more records, especially on Court St. at “collectible” prices.
joe long was the singular force behind creating the bed stuy gateway business improvement district. he is a business owner who cared deeply about his community.
fulton / nostrand wont be the same without joe long.
Yep, a vinyl shop opened up on Court Street called Black Gold. Love that place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnN1PUxml18
Vinyl is already back. I see more vinyl shops opening up than shutting down.
Hey I like vinyl as much as the next guy and seems the place and the folks that ran it are cool. But if you think vinyl is making a comeback, perhaps you’d also be interested in some Hollywood Video stock, as well as some old VHS tapes in my basement.
Those stats of a couple million sales may be a sign of a healthy collectors / niche market, but CD sales turned vinyl numbers into a rounding error a long time ago, and now CDs are dying and digital sales (itunes downloads) are counted in billions of units. Besides, many kids these days never heard of buying music and don’t see a reason to pay for it when they can get find it for free.