Strictly Discs in a Pandemic
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: Delta ‘Just the Beginning’ If Vaccinations Don’t Improve
How was Record Store Day? Much, much better than June. That wouldn’t take a whole lot, but it went smoothly. There were very few hiccups. There were a couple of titles from June that were bumped to July that the distributor missed, but I caught that early enough thanks to some of my coalition friends who I quickly asked, “Do have these titles?” And they all resoundingly answered yes, and so I realized I had a problem and they were able to fix it. So that was good. And compared to June, it was a minor blip. It sounds like everything went really well. Were you able to do sort of the full enchilada, in the sense of offering all the fun stuff for people waiting in line? For both the June and July date we poured beer and we had either doughnuts or bacon outside, so that was de...
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: ‘We Have Decided Not to Apply’ for Federal Assistance
Now that cases are going down, we’ve had a lot of states lifting restrictions, including in California. I’m wondering if you’ve seen any restrictions on retail establishments being lifted or relaxed at all? Nothing for retail, but there have been quite a few modifications of some of the gathering regulations, as well as some initial conversations about reopening schools. So there’s certainly some movement towards reopening, but nothing that specifically impacts us. Last time, we talked about government assistance, and you said you might qualify for something. Have you figured out what you might be eligible for at this point? We’re eligible to apply, [but] so far, we have decided not to apply because we don’t need it as much as others do. So for now, that...
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: ‘Everybody Realizes We’re at a Critical Point for Retail’
We talked last time about how December is a really important month for you. How has business been the last couple of weeks? It’s been good. Madison has a very strong ‘buy local’ spirit, and we’re really feeling that love this year. In addition, so many customers, either on the phone or in person, are asking how we’re doing with genuine concern. I think everybody realizes that we’re at a critical point for retail and restaurants and local establishments, and everybody is hoping that their favorites will stay. That’s really heartening to hear, especially now with the pandemic, when it’s a lot more convenient and, I guess, safer for people to buy online or on Amazon. We definitely feel that in our business. I hesitate who I say this to, but the ...
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: ‘Everybody’s on the Extreme End of Being Tired’
How did Record Store Day go on Saturday? It went really well. The same sort of pattern that we had with the first date worked well and seamlessly, and people were happy. And we did a give away five cases of New Belgium beer, [which] made people happy as well. What were some of your big sellers? Brandi Carlile is this year’s Record Store Day ambassador, and she had a 12-inch that had two covers of Soundgarden songs. That was a really big seller for us. The Bill Evans was a big seller. There was the release by the Yardbirds that did really well. One of the last times we spoke, we talked about how we couldn’t see businesses including retail getting shut down again given that people are so used to having more freedom now. But Wisconsin is becoming a really big hotspot for the ...
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: ‘People Are Cautiously Optimistic and Pleasantly Surprised’
Store owner Angie Roloff says her store and other independent record shops have done better than expected during the pandemic. In October 1988, Angie Roloff and her husband Ron opened Strictly Discs in Madison, Wisconsin, after Ron left a career in the biomedical research field to pursue his love of music full time. Nearly 31 years later, the couple made the difficult decision to shutter in-store operations due to COVID-19, roughly a week before Governor Tony Evers forced a mandatory shutdown of all non-essential businesses. Now that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has overturned Evers’ stay-at-home order — ruling it “unlawful” and “unenforceable” — the Roloffs and their employees have reopened the store. As part of Billboard’s efforts to best cover th...
Strictly Discs in Wisconsin, in a Pandemic: ‘We’re Only About 10% Down for the Year’
In October 1988, Angie Roloff and her husband Ron opened Strictly Discs in Madison, Wisconsin, after Ron left a career in the biomedical research field to pursue his love of music full time. Nearly 31 years later, the couple made the difficult decision to shutter in-store operations due to COVID-19, roughly a week before Governor Tony Evers forced a mandatory shutdown of all non-essential businesses. Now that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has overturned Evers’ stay-at-home order — ruling it “unlawful” and “unenforceable” — the Roloffs and their employees have reopened Strictly Discs in a limited capacity. As part of Billboard’s efforts to best cover the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on the music industry, we will be speaking with Roloff regula...
