Record Exchange closes Blacksburg location

Noter from Steve: I can't tell you how sad I am that The Record Exchange closed down. When I was in college, I went there at least 4 times a week, every week. It was my favorite store in town.

Used CDs from The Record Exchange helped me grow my music collection from 2 CDs to over 400 in five years.

Even when I didn't live there anymore, I went to The Record Exchange every time I was in town. It was a part of my life for so long, it was nice to stop by and see what was going on.

So many Blacksburg retail and restaurant staples from my college years have disappeared: Eagle Express, Davidsons, Sport Shack, Arnold's, Books Strings & Things, the Chinese place near College Avenue...it's very sad to think about sometimes.

Angela Manese-Lee
The Roanoke Times

BLCAKSBURG, Va. - In its more than 20 years in Blacksburg, the Record Exchange has survived each transition of the music industry, selling first records, then cassettes and finally CDs.

But the ease and frequency with which CDs are now copied or “burned” means Record Exchange owner Don Rosenberg has finally been dealt a punch he can’t roll with, at least not in Blacksburg. The Record Exchange closed its location at 302-A N. Main St. on Tuesday.

In doing so, it beat Crossroads CDs, its across-the-street competitor, out of downtown. Crossroads will move to Price’s Fork Road by March.

Rosenberg still owns eight stores in Virginia and North Carolina, including one in Roanoke and another in Salem. The Record Exchange also sells new and used CDs, DVDs and video games online.

Unlike Record Exchange’s other locations, the Blacksburg store has relied heavily on college kids, most from nearby Virginia Tech. In the years since CD-burning became widespread, those college kids have stopped buying music.

“You have college kids who have never paid for a CD in their life,” Rosenberg said.