Auctioneer replaces sound of music at Easy Street Records
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SEATTLE - Instead of the beat of music, it was the sound of the auctioneer Sunday at the beloved Easy Street Records store on Queen Anne.
It was not the sound that local music lovers wanted to hear.
The store was packed this morning with longtime customers looking for a piece of music memorabilia from one of their favorite hangouts.
"There's a ton of cool posters from some good artists," said Tyler Alexis, who showed up for the auction.
"Vampire weekend, commemorative 500,ooo sale album kind of thing," added Josh Spehn.
Molly Anderson was there, too. "My brother is a huge Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder fan, so that's kind of what we had our eye on," she said.
Everything had to go, from racks to thousands of iconic posters.
"We'll see - there's so many posters and the way they are going to sell it you just get a box of random posters and see what you get," said Leah Glauber.
Easy Street's Queen Anne store is the victim of its own great location. The rent just got too high for the owner to keep the discs spinning.
"It sucks," said Spehn. "I think they are putting a bank here or something. So to go from something like this to a bank is lame."
"I am heartbroken to see it gone," said Anderson. "I think this is what makes Queen Anne so special is, we have this local off-the-beaten-path places."
The Easy Street staff had never done an auction before. They did their best to get through the thousands of items, telling the crowd that the most important thing was that the pieces of their store find good homes.
"Sad to see it go," said Alexis.
Easy Street's original West Seattle location is staying open. The Queen Anne location will become a Chase Bank branch.
It was not the sound that local music lovers wanted to hear.
The store was packed this morning with longtime customers looking for a piece of music memorabilia from one of their favorite hangouts.
"There's a ton of cool posters from some good artists," said Tyler Alexis, who showed up for the auction.
"Vampire weekend, commemorative 500,ooo sale album kind of thing," added Josh Spehn.
Molly Anderson was there, too. "My brother is a huge Pearl Jam and Eddie Vedder fan, so that's kind of what we had our eye on," she said.
Everything had to go, from racks to thousands of iconic posters.
"We'll see - there's so many posters and the way they are going to sell it you just get a box of random posters and see what you get," said Leah Glauber.
Easy Street's Queen Anne store is the victim of its own great location. The rent just got too high for the owner to keep the discs spinning.
"It sucks," said Spehn. "I think they are putting a bank here or something. So to go from something like this to a bank is lame."
"I am heartbroken to see it gone," said Anderson. "I think this is what makes Queen Anne so special is, we have this local off-the-beaten-path places."
The Easy Street staff had never done an auction before. They did their best to get through the thousands of items, telling the crowd that the most important thing was that the pieces of their store find good homes.
"Sad to see it go," said Alexis.
Easy Street's original West Seattle location is staying open. The Queen Anne location will become a Chase Bank branch.
I agree with GeorgeG. Seattle is heavily biased toward big business. It's sad to see.Â
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It's pretty clear that the business environment in the Seattle area is heavily biased toward big business.Â
Kills me to think that Silver Platters won't be far behind. The closing of the Southcenter location made that loud and clear! I've never been to Easy Street since I guess they were competing with SP, but I did have intentions on going. Guess I waited too long. I supposed I better start thinking about visiting West Seattle then, soon!
Isnt' this like the 4th story on this record store? Big deal. Commercial property is expensive. Just the property taxes are expensive. Probably wouldn't even make the news if some granola outfit was moving in, but since it's some dirty old evil bank....Â
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Record stores are a thing of the past, just like video stores.Â
 @paperboy Yet here YOU are, spending (your obviously valuable) time to comment about it- multiple times.
Just what we need is another Chase bank.
 @Bellevue Scott It blows my mind that Chase even exists in this area anymore.  Who would bank with them?!Â
This pretty much blows. Another NW icon bites the dust
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I miss Tower books and Tower records. This place appeared to cater to those who don't like music, like in melody.
 @contraryjim I miss them too. Â
I don't understand an economy where those who handle money and take cuts while moving it from A to B are making so much money, but those who produce tangible, durable goods are struggling. Is this the way to build a solid economic foundation for the future of our grandchildren? We as a nation are doomed, someday to be relegated to a minor but somewhat respected voice on the world stage, like France is today. My bones will be six feet under by then, but I pitty my grandson.
 @Hagar It's quite simple: the answers is at the tip of your fingers.
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Clue: It's all about convenience.
@StringerJoe I have a lot more respect for a metal shop owner with 20 employees than I do for a run of the mill "vice president" of a bank. One contributes to society, the other takes away. One is a risk taker, the other a weasel.
I remember when that building used to be a Tower Books store (related to the old Tower Records). I'm sure Chase will be tearing the building down and replacing it as I can't imagine that building becoming a bank as it is.
@JAP506 Yep, they'll probably put up a nice new building, and contribute far more to the tax base of the city than the building that's there now.Â