A New Owner Is Buying Permanent Records' Stock & Will Keep A Shop At The UKV Location
By Stephen Gossett in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 11, 2017 9:44PM
Permanent Records
Some truly fantastic news on the local record-store beat: a buyer has stepped forward to take over Permanent Records' excellent Chicago inventory and use the stock to keep record-selling operations running at the Permanent's current Ukrainian Village storefront. The new shop will change names at some point after the sale and new lease are finalized.
Permanent announced in July that the Chicago location would be closing—with its last day being Sunday, September 17—and management would relocate to Los Angeles, where Permanent now has three record shops.
More information about the buyer will be announced soon, Permanent said in an announcement on Monday afternoon. The store wrote:
"It’s been a little less than two months since we announced the departure of Permanent Records from Chicago and it hasn’t been easy, but we’ve found a buyer! We’ll introduce these fine people in a forthcoming email, but we’re here to tell you that although it won’t be called Permanent, a record store will live on at 1914 W. Chicago Avenue. We’re in the process of preparing the new owner for business in our old location and clearing out our proverbial desks, but we’re very excited about the new direction and we’re sure you will be too."
The Permanent crew is holding onto some of the shop decor that has "sentimental value," co-owner Lance Barresi told Chicagoist, but based on his conversations with the new buyers, the shop's overall focus will likely stay "fairly similar, if not the same." The shop casts a wide net, genre-wise, but has become beloved especially for its well-curated selection of experimental rock, garage, German art rock and other varieties of wiggy sounds.
Baressi declined to identity the purchaser, although he said there are verbal agreements between he and the buyer, and between the buyer and the landlord of the property (1914 W. Chicago Ave.).
The shop's last day (as Permanent) will still be Sept. 17. It's not clear when the new ownership will launch their replacement store.
So while we're still waiting on details and finalization, right now it sounds like just about the best possible case scenario. Baressi and the other LA-based Permanent folks no longer have to contend with travel rigors, and Ukrainian Village doesn't lose a record store.
Barresi said he was very happy with the development. "When we announced we were going to move, we were mostly sad because we were taking away what a lot of people have told us is a neighborhood institution," he said. The neighborhood "really benefits from having a record," and "we have the relief of not having to take that away."
Barresi said he hopes the new store will bring on Permanent Chicago's lone part-time employee. The store's two full-time staffers are transitioning to Los Angeles.