Vinyl is the biggest bright spot of growth. Formerly located on the same Wall Street block as The Tower Theatre and Pizza Mondo, the long-standing record store has moved a couple blocks northeast to 117 NW Oregon.
Ranch Records now occupies a space in the Historic O’Kane Building, next to the Summit Saloon. While their overall square footage has dropped from 2,500 to 2,300, the actual size of usable space has grown with a better configuration and the lack of a staircase in the middle of shop. Scott Gibbs of Investors Real Estate Solutions, LLC in Bend handled the leasing agreement.
“The old place was going to need some work,” says Ranch Records owner John Schroeder. “This is a fresh start with a clean palate.”
Although they are happy with the move, the decision was not theirs to make. A new owner purchased the building at the corner of Wall and Franklin and had another use for the space. (The former space in the E.M. Thompson Building on Wall Street is being renovated by new owners Scott and Karen Letourneau of Bend).
But, the timing worked out perfectly as the Earth Fire Art pottery painting studio vacated their spot for a NE Revere location.
Ranch Records opened May 1, 1996 to fill the music gap left by the closing of Paramount Records. Schroeder, a manager at Paramount at the time, saw the opportunity to be an owner, enlisted a partner and opened Ranch Records. According to Schroeder, the record store business was very different back then.
“It was more complicated back then,” says Schroeder. “There were more distributers to order from, to make sure you got everything you wanted. But now they’ve merged.”
Schroeder, who has lived in Bend with his wife and two daughters since 1981, bought out his partner two years ago. His partner still owns a record store in Salem.
The new location, complete with a staff of four full-time (Schroeder included) and one part-time employee will house an increased selection inventory the old location was known for, with some improvements. There will still be CDs, posters, stickers and t-shirts. However, Schroeder plans to increase the amount of vinyl records and tapestries for sale, and sell used stereo equipment.
“Vinyl is the biggest bright spot of growth,” says Schroeder. “We are going to expand every category of music.”
Ranch Records experienced a 10 percent growth in sales from 2103 to 2014. Schroeder attributes the increase to the resurgence of vinyl and overall music awareness, and the growing economy. As for his online competition, he remains optimistic about the benefits of owning a shop downtown.
“You can’t beat customer service. We love music just like our customers. We can’t wait to share new music with everyone.”
Ranch Records
117 NW Oregon
Owner: John Schroeder
Employees: 4 full-time, 1 part-time
Year established: 1996
Products: CDs, records, tapestries, posters, stickers, used stereo equipment, t-shirts.
Hot News: A move to a new location is allowing them to increase selection and curb appeal.
Outlook for Growth: They are experiencing a consistent growth over the last couple of years as the economy grows and the music business rebounds.
Resurgence of Vinyl
The music industry has changed significantly over the last 10 years, as more consumers are shifting their tastes and heading online to listen to their favorite bands. However, one area that has seen a huge resurgence is the sale of vinyl records. Not only are bands pressing vinyl upon releasing new material, but classic albums are being repressed to meet the demand from audiophiles and nostalgic music lovers alike.
Benefits of listening to vinyl over CDs and mp3s range from better quality of sound to a more complete listening experience. However, the sound quality only rises when the records are played on high quality equipment.
“People realize it’s a more personal experience,” says John Schroeder, owner of Ranch Records in downtown Bend. “It’s more involved. You have twenty minutes to focus on the music, or read the liner notes.”
According to Nielsen SoundScan, the first half of 2014 saw 4 million in sales of vinyl records, compared to 2.9 million in the first half of 2013, an increase of almost 40 percent. There has also been a 600 percent increase between 2007’s one million and 2013’s six million units sold. At the same time, total album sales in the U.S. were down almost 15 percent to 121 million units, due to falling sales of CDs and digital albums. Despite vinyl’s impressive growth, it still makes up only three percent of total album sales.
