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DEPT. OF ENDANGERED SPECIES
Disc Diggers goes online
BY CAMILLE DODERO

This past Tuesday, the only indicators that Davis Square’s Disc Diggers wouldn’t be open in 2005 were inconspicuous fliers for a farewell show at Johnny D’s on Saturday, and a sign in the front window encouraging customers to exhaust their store credit before the 30th. Despite the subtle postings, word of the used-CD store’s demise had spread far enough to draw eight shoppers at 11:30 a.m., many of whom were asking about the impending closure. "This is what it used to look like," said the dreadlocked counter clerk, glancing at the middle-aged customers flipping through the fusty store’s wooden CD bins. "But there used to be college kids," he added, gnawing on a twig carved into a toothpick. "Look — now, there’s no one here under 30."

The prolonged absence of college students — particularly Tufts University kids, formerly a sizable percentage of Disc Diggers’ patronage — is one of the major reasons why the store is shuttering after 19 years in the retail business. When owner Robert Hart opened the shop in the fall of 1985, back when Davis was still "a sleepy townie place," he rented the Somerville location specifically because of its proximity to undergrads. "I figured the best thing a used store can have is a subway stop and a college — and Davis Square had both," says Hart, who lived in Somerville for many years until relocating to New Hampshire. But in the past five or six years, largely due to the pervasiveness of Internet file-sharing, Disc Diggers’ in-store sales have fallen 15 percent every year. In 2004, its retail revenue was only a quarter of what it was six years ago. "We’ve seen the mean age of our clientele go from about 23 to 38 or so," Hart explains. Watching his customer base dwindle has been like "a sociological study in computer adroitness," he adds. "We watched various elements of our public fade away and it was like, ‘Oh, now those guys have learned how to download stuff. And then those guys. And then those guys.’ It was tough."

For the past few years, Disc Diggers hadn’t been a shiny, tidy record store. In truth, the place often smelled like a moldy dish towel. The décor was record-store chic: haphazardly arranged old magazine pages, rock-show fliers, audiophile bric-a-brac. CDs and tapes still came in those tall plastic cases reminiscent of the late ’80s, and were separated by dividers with handwritten labels. Clerks scrawled receipts on carbon copies. Finding quality music required patience; but, as the name indicated, the disc digging was half the fun.

The secondhand store’s real charm was its role as a fossil of a bygone era — that of old-school record-shopping culture and the old Davis Square. "We tried to be efficient and do a high volume, but never lose that touch of being a neighborhood used-record store," Hart says. The rock-show-flier wallpaper always reflected the local community: posters for the Darlings at Toad, a WMFO benefit show at the Abbey Lounge, a June CD-release party for a Cock ’n’ Roll compilation at the Middle East. On Tuesday morning, one of the two clerks wore a hooded blue sweatshirt with the logo of the Someday Café, the comfy coffee shop around the corner.

Although Disc Diggers won’t open its doors for customers after Friday, Hart plans to continue the business online. As the staff catalogues all the retail merchandise for the Web, the stock will remain in the space likely through the spring. So far, there’s no confirmation about what business will usurp the space, but restaurateurs have already made inquiries.

Despite its continuing online presence, Hart says, the business really won’t be the same without the interpersonal interactions. "I’m going to miss them more than I can tell you."

Disc Diggers’ Farewell Sendoff will take place this Saturday at Johnny D’s, 17 Holland Street, Davis Square, with the Darlings, the Punk Monkeys, Tony Goddess, Rachael Cantu, and Simon Ritt. Call (617) 776-2004. Visit Disc Diggers online at www.discdiggers.com.


Issue Date: December 31, 2004 - January 6, 2005
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