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After nearly four decades of serving the Twin Cities’ vibrant music scene, Hymie’s Records has decided to close its doors.
Originally opened in the 1980s, the vinyl shop once praised by the Beastie Boys and Rolling Stone, announced that it has no plans to reopen.
Adam Taylor, the store’s fourth owner, bought Hymie’s in 2019. Taylor says that throughout the pandemic, record shops around the Twin Cities were hit hard, experiencing financial hurdles that put some out of business.
While Hymie’s managed to stay afloat, Taylor says that added financial pressures chipped away at the business’s future.
“Rent is astronomical. I can’t afford 4,000 bucks a month,” Taylor said, “I’m out of spirits. My tank is empty.”
Financial burdens weren’t the only thing wearing him down.
“I’ve suffered constant graffiti, constant shoplifting… a very bad bathroom fire caused by a homeless guy with a cigarette,” Taylor said. “I’ve been beaten up twice. I’ve been robbed at knife point. I've had rocks and stones thrown at me.”
The troubles that led to Hymie’s closure have been longstanding. Oral Lee Keese, a former owner, says that since Hymie’s first opened, the store has struggled with both crime and financial problems.
“Rent and theft have been an issue since Hymie’s inception. A leaky basement, bad landlords, and the rent just keeps going up and up until it becomes untenable,” Keese said. “I can’t imagine now, running the store in this neighborhood, personally.”
Taylor says that amidst the store’s problems, he felt like the city’s failure to keep the neighborhood safe drove away customers.
“The city is broken. There's no police presence… I called 911 over a dozen times, either I get put on hold or they call me back in a few minutes. When I was attacked, 911 didn’t arrive until the next day,” Taylor said. “I get constant phone calls saying, ‘Is it safe to come down?’”
News of Hymie’s closure on social media drew a massive crowd of both legacy shoppers and newcomers to its liquidation sale.
Thomas Thorpe, an employee at Twin Cities PBS, has been coming to Hymie’s for more than 25 years. Seeing one of his favorite vinyl shops shutting down leaves him grateful, but emotional.
“It curated vintage, new finds, and helped people turn over their collections,” Thorpe said, “You can tell how important this store was to the neighborhood and the community.”
With no further business ventures in mind, Taylor says that after Hymie’s is shuttered, he plans on returning to his roots of archival work — using his master’s degree in library and information science to find roles in digital preservation.
English (US) ·