A local music store will say goodbye to Tempe after 19 years of sweet music together.
Stinkweeds Record Exchange, located at 1250 E. Apache Blvd., will close its doors next month for good.
"It's been a very emotional thing," owner Kimber Lanning said. "[The store] means a lot of things to a lot of people."
Lanning, who owns a second store in Phoenix, said she is closing the Tempe location due to personal reasons, not because of poor business.
"First and foremost, it's time for me to do something else," she said. "I feel like 19 years of my life is long enough to devote to something."
Lanning has started a nonprofit organization called Arizona Chain Reaction, which supports local businesses in the Valley. She said closing the Tempe store would give her more time with the project.
"We're trying to encourage people to go to local businesses for the things they need," she said. "The local businesses are really what give our city flavor."
Lanning also said since she doesn't own the building in Tempe, she is tired of paying rent on it.
Closing the store has been emotional for Lanning as well. She opened the Tempe store when she was 19 years old, and said that next to her father's death, this is the hardest thing she's gone through.
"People who aren't music people don't understand the emotional attachment," she said. "I feel like I'm in the middle of a swan dive - like I just took a big leap."
Dario Miranda works at both the Tempe and Phoenix stores. Even though he is not out of a job, Miranda said he is still sad to see the Tempe location go.
"It's sad," he said. "There are a lot of people who come in here every day. It'll be in Phoenix, but a lot of people aren't willing to drive [there]."
But Miranda said he agrees with Lanning's decision to close the store.
"The reasons for closing the store are good," he said.
The store's merchandise has been sold to a young couple who plan to move it to Salt Lake City, Lanning said. The couple, who were longtime customers of Stinkweeds, plan to call their new store Slow Train.
"I'm really thrilled," Lanning said. "I know it's going to live on in spirit."
For customers not willing to make the drive to Phoenix to get their music, Lanning suggests taking advantage of the company's Web site.
"It's really cheap," she said. "It's cheaper than coming in the store, and you can get a CD the next day."
Geography freshman Eric Bregant has been a customer of Stinkweeds for about four years.
"Stinkweeds is the coolest place to go," he said. "It's like a really good local music shop. That kinda sucks."
Bregant said he buys classic rock records from Stinkweeds. He added he prefers Stinkweeds over other local music shops.
"People there are a lot more friendly," he said. "They're just more into what they're doing. They have more knowledge than anybody."
After the Tempe location closes, Bregant said he doubts he'll drive to the Phoenix store.
"With the way gas is right now, I'll just go to Zia," he said.
Reach the reporter at kelsey.perry@asu.edu.
