The Commercial Appeal describes a “Record Loss,” the closing of the Poplar Tunes and Pop Tunes record stores in Memphis. Poplar Tunes opened in the 300 block of Poplar right after WWII. It was famously Elvis’s record store, and its owners founded Hi Records (where Al Green and Ann Peebles became stars).
When I started exploring Memphis in the 70s, I quickly found Poplar Tunes and the Home of the Blues record store on Main. At Poplar Tunes, there were promo copies of all the records on the shelves, and you could listen to each of them on record players with headphones located throughout the store; you’d pic out a record and they’d pull it from stock behind the counterPo. This allowed me to explore a lot, and I bought many of the first blues LPs I ever bought there.
Poplar Tunes was currently owned by a Nashville company, Music City Record Distributors, which had earlier closed the two Cats outlets in Memphis. With Tower gone, the only large-ish record store left in Memphis is Spin City. Spin City’s new stock is dwindling, in favor of used and other merchandise.
Shangri La and Goner Records are both still there, of course, each filling their own important niche. The article notes one impact: There’s essentially no way to break a record in urban music or r&b in Memphis any more:
“It’s a big blow,” says Johnny Phillips of Select-O Hits, one of the largest distributors in the country and a major player in the Memphis urban-music market. “It’s almost impossible to break product in Memphis now.
“It’s really hurt the urban market in particular: rap, gospel, southern soul. There are no neighborhood stores or mom-and-pop stores anymore, even in the black neighborhoods — there’s nobody left.”
I hate that Poplar tunes has been closed.
The Bob Mehr story shows the continued dedication The Commercial Appeal has in covering local music and the local music industry.
That’s just sad. I fear for my local music retailer as well.
One of my high school jobs: I sold rap and R&B music when I worked at a furniture store in the Delta (yes, I know, very random, but very lucrative). Pop Tunes had a distributor that ran a route through the Delta and sold music out of his van. I would place orders and we would supply the music immediately or overnight ship it to me. This was in 1994. I sold a lot of Keith Sweat cassette singles.
Pop Tunes could get anything, and I mean anything. Special orders were always filled within two weeks. They had a store at Bullfrog Corner I would go to. Very sad.
I have been visiting Memphis approximately two times per year since the early 1980′s. I always made sure I shopped at Poplar Tunes because (1) I believe it is important to support “mom and pop” businesses, (2) the sales staff was knowledgeable and friendly, (3) they had a great music selection, (4) Elvis Presley shopped there, and (5) I worked at a local “mom and pop” record store in Rhode Island for about 16 years before we closed due to changes in the public’s music-buying habits. Needless to say, I was devastated during my December 31, 2009 to January 3, 2010 visit to Memphis when I discovered that Poplar Tunes had gone out of business. This is a huge loss to the city of Memphis, music lovers, Elvis fans, and “mom and pop” businesses everywhere. I am saddened more than I can ever express in words.