Music fanatics rejoice with new Hoodlums

TEMPE — After 10 years as an on-campus fixture, Hoodlums record store is moving out of the Arizona State University basement and into the Tempe community.

The new location opens Sept. 20 at McClintock Drive and Guadalupe Road and will allow Hoodlums to wade into the live music scene.

“We have more space at this location, so we are going to start buying, selling and trading records in addition to CDs and DVDs,” Hoodlums co-owner Steve Wiley says in an email. “We also built a stage and purchased a PA, so we can host more bands.”

The store originally settled in 500 square feet inside ASU’s Memorial Union in 1998, according to the store website. It offered a wide collection of new and used CDs, then prospered and began selling DVDs, music posters, and various pop culture artifacts.

In 2001, it moved to a larger space inside the Memorial Union basement. This new location allowed Wiley and Luce to bring in more products including the expansion of DVDs and vinyl records, according to the store website.

The store remained open up until last November, when a fire on the third floor of the Memorial Union caused the entire building to be shut down for three months. Wiley says these were the prime months for Hoodlums’ sales.

The lease ran out while the Memorial Union was being repaired, Wiley says, and owners decided not to renew at a time when they had no customers.

“It was a tough way to end a great relationship,” Wiley says.

Some students still mourn the loss. Matthew Burrows, an ASU journalism senior, remembers seeing the signs on the store’s door announcing it was closing up shop on campus.

“That was convenient, that was on-campus, that was right there,” Burrows says with obvious frustration.

After hunting around for a new location, Wiley and Luce found a spot in the shopping center that is home to Trader Joe’s and Changing Hands Book Store.

Other new characteristics include an expansion of their music collection emphasizing the world and jazz genres and the use of their wall space to sell music and movie art. Local artists will have a spot on the walls on a bi-monthly basis, Wiley says.

At least one ASU student who hadn’t heard of the store was thankful it found a new home.

“People are really passionate about music, so it’s a good thing,” says ASU junior Ashley Chadwick.

= = =

>>Email the editor at aklaw@zoniereport.com.