Business & Tech

Dope Jams Closing Due to Financial Woes

The Myrtle Avenue record store will hold a closing party at 8 p.m. on Jan. 26.

 

A local record store that has been a Clinton Hill mainstay for nearly a decade will be closing its doors for good come the end of January. 

On Jan. 26, vinyl shop Dope Jams will close "[seven] years to the day since it opened" in the 580 Myrtle Ave. space, owners Francis Englehardt and Paul Nickerson noted on the store's Web site

Englehardt and Nickerson cited financial troubles as the source of the store's closing. "…[O]ur rent has been raised threefold, and sadly our imaginary trustifarian [sic] benefactors just can't swing it anymore."

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"We knew exactly what kind of a logistical and financial sh*tstorm we were getting into. But ultimately, we wanted to devote ourselves, to put every ounce of energy and every dime saved into the perpetuation and expansion of dope music," the pair detailed in its farewell. 

"We threw ourselves into installing the sound and the aesthetics to situate our project and our philosophy, and with that set in place, we proceeded to push music we thought was worthwhile, music that was beautiful and pure and capable of wading past the massive expanses of mediocrity and opportunism that we saw as gaining the upper hand," they continued.

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"We gave enough of a sh*t then, and have continued to give a sh*t for 7 [sic] long years struggling through dwindling sales, personal loss, and daily disappointments. If only for the [barrage] of weirdos, freaks and outcasts walking through that door every day, it was absolutely worth it."

Though the store's physical presence in the neighborhood will soon be no longer, Dope Jams will continue its online operations

Engelhardt and Nickerson also compiled a playlist that they said will "forever remind us of 580 Myrtle Ave." here

Dope Jams will hold a closing party at 8 p.m. on the store's last day in operation. 


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