The former Three Rivers Aikido Martial Arts, at 7403 Manchester, in Maplewood, will be divided into two commercial locations, and as of Thursday both are very close to being leased, according to owner Dan Slavin.
The addresses will become 7403A and 7403B.
7403A will be a vinyl record store and coffee shop, Slavin said. The owner of this business hasn’t been able to respond with details yet.
This is different than the new/used record/CD store planned for 7421 Manchester Road a half block west that Maplewood Planning and Zoning approved in June. That one has been in a strip mall in Hazelwood since 1983 as CD Reunion, and will change its name to Planet Score Records when it moves to Maplewood, co-owner Tim Lohmann said Thursday. He said there is about a month of work to do before they can move to Maplewood.
7403B will be an art studio and gallery. Slavin said there will be about 10 artists working and showing their art. He said they’ve had success at some of the Maplewood festivals so they seem like a natural fit.
Slavin said he started with a total of about 16,000 square feet to lease and now has only a small 500 square foot office in the back of the 7500 block of Manchester.
“As soon as I put my sign up the calls were just flooding in, as far as people wanting space,” he said.
Slavin said he’s also in the middle of rehabbing two apartment buildings at the corner of Limit and Southwest avenues that he bought in foreclosure. He said none of the units are finished but 11 out of 20 are pre-leased.
Didn’t mean to imply the city itself is somehow putting the two record stores in those spaces. Only stating that going from zero to two record stores, on the very same block, is not typical in any community in 2015. Maybe decades ago it would have been, but not now — when the only physical format enjoying growth is (new) vinyl.
I’m no expert, but is two record stores on the same block a smart move for the city? You are almost immediately dooming one of them to fail — thereby ending up w/ another empty space. Two record stores couldn’t coexist in the CWE (West End Wax/Euclid) or Delmar (Vintage Vinyl/Streetside), so how exactly would Maplewood be any different?
I LOVE vinyl and am excited to have a record store within walking distance… I just don’t see this as very bright.
It’s not a “move for the city.” Except in rare cases (like liquor licenses in some areas), a municipality cannot prevent a business from opening nor restrict the number of businesses of a certain type if they meet zoning and other requirements. Also, I can assure you that the demise of West End Wax (in the CWE) and Streetside Records (in the Loop and every other location they closed) had nothing to do with proximity to a competitor. My wife owned The Disc-Connection from 1981 until she closed in 2006, so we knew the industry and all of the local players; plus, both West End Wax and Streetside bought from her wholesale division.
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