The Beatnick Records store is for sale. A personal decision, says its owner, Nick Catalano, while the record market is doing well in the metropolis.
The business opened its doors 25 years ago on rue Saint-Denis, between rue Roy and avenue des Pins. Inside, we make our way through narrow passages, wedged between shelves overflowing with compact discs and vinyls, while the speakers spit out music far removed from the latest charts. No doubt, we’re at a real record store.
The announcement that the Beatnick was on sale at the start of the week worried several Internet users. Nick Catalano is reassuring: “this is not a closing sale”. “I’m 72 years old and I don’t want to work seven days a week anymore! »
Although the owner deplores a lack of support from the City of Montreal during the numerous works which have affected the sector in recent years and caused the disappearance of several parking spaces, he specifies that he is not selling for these reasons. Above all, he seeks to reduce the pace, not being an entrepreneur at heart. “I’m a musician who opened a record store […] to get a job, because as a musician, I didn’t earn enough money,” explains the septuagenarian.
Besides, there is no question of selling to just anyone. “I want the store to go to someone who is 40 years old, who can think long term,” Mr. Catalano said. I want employees to keep their jobs, I want to find someone who has the same passion that I had when I opened my business and who wants to continue that. »
A market that is doing well
The owner of Beatnick assures that he is not selling because the store is not doing well, on the contrary. “The record market is excellent,” according to him. He even says he observes an “expansion” in the province.
In recent years, he has seen a younger generation, addicted to vinyl, robbing his shelves. If many come to buy the latest Harry Styles or Taylor Swift, at the end of the day, “it’s the same records that sell. It’s Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Jimy Hendricks, The Cure. You can sell 15 copies of Dark Side of the Moon per week. »
Luis, a loyal customer, is one of the collectors who swear by music on physical media. “There is a connection between us and the artist, when you buy a record,” explains the man who says he owns some 5,000 CDs and 3,000 vinyls. “Besides, my neighbors hate me,” he admits, smiling.
Already in 2021, we noticed overheating in the vinyl market. Victim of its popularity, the industry struggled to meet demand and prices soared.
This is what we see at Musique-Disque Sonik, at the corner of Duluth and Berri streets. Specializing in punk music, record store Mathieu Livernois judges that “the prices are starting to look unattractive, especially for new items”. He attributes this surge to the return of majors (the major record producers and distributors) in the vinyl market.
That said, sales are going well and customers are there. The owner explains that there is a critical mass of record stores in the area, which attracts a local clientele, but also tourists. There, a man was buying vinyls which he intended to send to relatives in the United States.
Mr. Livernois does not see everything rosy, however. “The big problem in Montreal is commercial rents,” says the man who claims to have had its largest rent increase in 23 years this year.
Despite certain pitfalls, the two entrepreneurs we met did not seem worried about the future of the record. The product is aimed at enthusiasts, explains Nick Catalano. He listens differently and offers an experience that online platforms cannot match, according to him. This should ensure a bright future for these old objects.