Major change coming for mainstay of Lexington’s music, college scene
Lexington’s longest running record store, CD Central, is getting ready to say adieu. Owner Steve Baron announced via Facebook and Instagram on Tuesday that he is selling the business he opened in 1995 and retiring.
The store will close in early September, but will reopen later in the fall with a new name and new management.
“Financially, the store is doing fine,” Baron said. “We’ve had great community support. It’s not one of those situations where it’s being closed because of any kind of distress. It’s just my desire to let it go and retire and focus on retirement kinds of things in life.
“Of course, my main concern was we would leave a big gap in the community as far as having a record store in the (University of Kentucky) campus area. Fortunately, I do have some people who signed on to purchase the business and inventory and start their own store in the same location. The store will continue on under new management and under a different name. It will be a separate store, but it will look a lot like CD Central, at least initially.”
CD Central opened first in South Hill Station in Bolivar. Baron moved the store to its current location on South Limestone in 1999. While CD Central celebrated its 30th anniversary as a business in March, Baron said he has been considering retirement for several years.
“I just feel like 30 years is probably long enough to do one thing. I wanted to get out while I still had my health and while the store is still doing well, when it’s not under any kind of duress or pressure. But it’s definitely something I’ve been thinking about for the last few years. This year, I really resolved to make it happen.
“Running a store is a pretty stressful thing. It’s a seven -day-a-week kind of job. I’ve been very hands-on from the get-go with it. There is a lot of stress involved in that. I think anybody who runs a small business is in that kind of situation.
“The idea of closing the store entirely was on the table, but that was not the preferred thing. I was very fortunate that a small group of people wanted to take it over. So far, it seems like it’s going to work out great as kind of a win-win situation.”
While he is not identifying the buyers as of yet, Baron said the new owners are based locally and have music business experience. Specific closing and re-opening dates are still to be determined. Tentative plans, though, are for CD Central to wind up business the weekend after Labor Day (Sept. 6-7) with the new business taking over later in the fall.
“It’s not an emergency situation where creditors are banging on the door. The store is doing well and will do well under new ownership.,” Baron said.
“It’s going to be very hard emotionally to let the store go, but it’s the right decision, personally.”