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Then There Were Two Homer’s chain shrinks
by Tim McMahan
It wasn’t that long ago that Homer’s Records boasted a worldwide chain of six locations. In a couple weeks, that number will be down to just two.
Homer’s Lincoln location closed Sept. 5, while the chain’s Saddle Creek location closes shop Sept. 19.
“Leases are up at Lincoln and Saddle Creek, and based on their volume of biz and the ridiculous prices landlords still think they can get, we can’t risk it by re-signing,” said Homer’s general Manager Mike Fratt in an email. Homer’s is signing a lease in the Old Market (but at a new location).
“We’re not going away, just positioning ourselves to remain profitable.”
In fact, the Saddle Creek Homer’s store was profitable, Fratt said, but just recently slipped to break even.
“To some extent, Old Market and Saddle Creek compete with each other,” he said.
Homer’s tried going month-to-month on the Saddle Creek lease for the rest of the year, but the landlord “would not work with us. We tried to buy the space and they would not work with us.”
That seemed a bit strange. How could that little notch of property be worth holding onto, especially considering that when Homer’s is gone, the converted Kwik Shop building likely will remain empty indefinitely, just like the sad old Target store that’s been sitting empty right next to it for years?
Fratt said the Saddle Creek property was owned by an oil company and has changed hands six times since Homer’s moved in.
“That piece of land is bundled with over 100 other properties around the country and the current owner will only sell the bundled real estate package,” he said. “But, as you say, it will likely sit empty because REITs (real estate investment trusts) are in big trouble right now ($3 trillion in commercial real estate loans are up for renewal in September, next bubble to burst?), so there are no buyers.”
What about moving that Saddle Creek location to Benson, Omaha’s newest live music hub? Surely it has better foot traffic than Saddle Creek had, and we all know there are plenty of empty storefronts along Maple St.
“I remain interested, but have concerns about what’s happening in Benson right now,” Fratt said, “Two restaurants closing, the bridal shop closing, no new food coming in to replace the losses. Also, Mick’s closing has chased away affluent adults to some extent, and Espana, since the sale, is not doing very well, so it’ll have to wait until the economy improves. You won’t find an indie like us, anywhere in the U.S., with more than two locations per metro.”
I suppose you could call it a “duck-and-cover strategy,” and I can’t say I disagree with it, especially when you also consider the competition.
In a recent story in the Omaha World-Herald by Christine Laue, Fratt said Homer’s, as part of the Coalition of Independent Music Stores, has negotiated with major labels to be able to sell new releases at $9.99, or $2 below cost. He called the price drop “a game changer” that will help them compete with big-box stores such as Wal-Mart and Target.
I hope he’s right. For me, the big game changer is the Internet, but not necessarily because of illegal downloading. Case in point: Who remembers the days before the Internet and MySpace, when it was impossible to hear a new album without buying it? It was so difficult, in fact, that you often bought albums sight-unheard just because of curiosity. You took a chance, and sometimes it paid off, sometimes not.
These days you can go to MySpace or Lala.com or whatever service you prefer, and hear tracks for free. We’ve become a nation (or world) of listeners with short attention spans. If a track doesn’t turn us on in 15 seconds we click to the next track or click away from the recording entirely.
The mystery is gone, for better or worse. For the better, it means we no longer have to waste money on albums that turn out to be 95 percent filler. For the worse, we’re discarding a lot of music that we simply haven’t given enough time to “sink in.” It also means that with fewer people willing (or needing) to make a blind commitment, Homer’s and other record stores are selling fewer albums.
I’ll miss that little store on Saddle Creek. It was like a miniature version of the Old Market location, complete with that horrible incense stench that permeated your clothes, so that you smelled like a head shop for the rest of the day. Saddle Creek didn’t have the biggest selection, but it had whatever I was looking for. And the people who worked there were always cool, just like everyone who works (or has worked) at Homer’s. Here’s hoping they all land on their feet. ,
Lazy-i is a weekly column by Reader senior contributing writer Tim McMahan focused on the Omaha music scene. Check out Tim’s daily music news updates at his website, lazy-i.com, or email him at lazy-I@thereader.com.
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