Lexington’s oldest remaining record store owner retiring, but the beat will go on

With a week to go before closing the doors CD Central, the Lexington record store he has helmed for more than three decades, things are busy for Steve Baron.

The final few days are bringing in longstanding patrons that began shopping for new and used recordings when his initial South Hill Station location opened in 1995. The store’s current home on South Limestone, which Baron moved to in 1999, is now closing and CD Central — as a brand name, at least — is headed to the history books.

The closing isn’t anywhere near as bittersweet as it could have been, though. CD Central won’t be shutting down due to financial issues, but rather as a means for Baron to retire. A new record store, with a trio of regional co-owners will quickly re-open with a new name, but much of the same mission: To serve as a community hub for music lovers to discover the endless parade of newly released records on vinyl and CD and perhaps hunt through bins of used recordings for a bargain or long, lost musical treasure.

“I’ve been so focused on just running the store that I haven’t really had time to think about some of the big picture stuff,” Baron said. “There are so many people coming in now to say goodbye or make one last purchase for nostalgia. Then on top of that, all of the UK students have come back in the last couple of weeks, so it’s been quite a busy time. It’s striking how many people have very positive feelings about their experiences with the store and want to relate them to me.

“A lot of people coming in say they shopped here in the ’90s when we were in South Hill Station while they were in college. Now, their kids are in college, so a whole generation has passed with everyone still shopping at the same record store, I mean, it’s really, really cool to hear that. It also makes me feel really old.”

What new owners say about CD Central closing

Among the patrons that began making the original CD Central in South Hill Station a regular stop is Bob Lewis, one of the three new owners of the business that will succeed Baron’s South Limestone store.

“I remember driving down Old Frankfort Pike in my old ratty truck to South Hill Station specifically to go to CD Central,” Lewis said. “I would go in, get the red beans and rice at Yat’s (a mid ’90s Cajun eatery in South Hill Station) and have enough money left over for a used CD. There was something magical about that.”

When Baron put out word that he was selling his store and retiring, Lewis and his partners stepped up. They will oversee a new record store at the South Limestone location with an old and familiar name. The new business will be called Cut Corner Records. Longtime Lexington music customers will quickly recognize that as the name of the store run from the same building prior to CD Central.

Cut Corner operated out of several locations in Lexington dating back to the late 1970s before settling on South Limestone. Lewis and his partners have no connection to any of the owners or managers of the previous Cut Corner locations.

“When we found out CD Central was closing, someone said, ‘I wish Cut Corner could move back there,’” Lewis said. “Then we talked about it. When we moved into the stage of ‘we can definitely do this’ in acquiring the business, we were worried about using the name. We weren’t trying to shamelessly trade on it. We tossed around some other names, but we thought if we could use that, it would be like we would be closing a circle. It was like the Talking Heads song (“Once in a Lifetime”), right? ‘Same as it ever was.’ There was something really reassuring about that.

“The name was available. There was no copyright issue. No businesses were using it so we were able to get the domain. With the rollover of the operations, we felt this was symbolic of carrying on the spirit of the store.” Lewis said he hopes to have the newly minted Cut Corner Records open for operation as soon as Sept. 13 — less than a week after CD Central’s Sept. 7 closing. Don’t expect too many changes at first, however. Much of CD’s Central’s fixtures and inventory will still be in place. More importantly, so will its staff. Any changes will be gradual.

“The fact that the new owners offered employment to pretty much our entire staff here, which is a wonderful outcome for them, presents a great deal of continuity,” Baron said. “So, it’s like, ‘Yeah, it’s closing, but not exactly like closing, complete, end of story. The story is kind of continuing.

“I think, for a lot of customers, when they come into the store under the new management, the store will still look a lot like CD Central. Over time, though, it will evolve in different directions. I’ll be very interested in seeing what they are.”

First employee is now vice mayor

If a store’s sense of community value is defined by the staff who works there, then CD Central’s small business stature in Lexington will be forever golden.

“I was proudly Steve’s first employee,” said Lexington vice mayor Dan Wu, who worked at CD Central during his 1990s student tenure at the University of Kentucky. “Technically, I think he had somebody that worked for him for a couple of weeks, but I’m going to claim the status as his first full-on employee.

“Having done small business myself as a restaurateur and really understanding how hard running a small business is and how hard retail is, especially in something like the music industry, where the last decade or so has seen so much music go to streaming, to have the longevity of 30 years is exceptional. It’s a real testament to how important that shop has been to the community.”

“I’m elated for Steve that he gets to make this decision for himself and that he gets to do it with positive anticipation for his retirement,” said Singletary Center for the Arts director Matt Gibson, who worked separate stretches at CD Central around studies at UK. The second, which began in 2007, lasted seven years.

“I’m just glad that he gets to go out on his own terms because he has spent so much time and effort into making the store a success. I saw his personal investment day in and day out. He really worked hard for it, so I’m super happy for him that gets to choose to do this and do it his own way. But it is kind of the end of an era.”

Among the many other employees to work at CD Central was Tony Manuel, another member of the new Cut Corner Records ownership team (the third, Lewis said, wishes to remain anonymous). Aside from working at CD Central during the early 2000s, as well as at several other South Limestone businesses, Manuel was also a regular customer of the previous Cut Corner store.

“When Steve announced he was retiring, the first thing that hit me was whoever takes over has to understand the legacy of that building being a music store,” Manuel said. “They have to understand how important that building is to the community. Then a few months later, Bob approached me and it was one of those no-brainers. I just felt like I couldn’t pass this up.

“If CD Central were to just close down, that would have been the end of the last traditional record store in Lexington. It would have left a huge hole in the market. You want to be able to walk down to your local record store on release day. It’s a hub of culture, a place to exchange ideas and discover new bands whether it’s through suggestions from the staff or friends you’re meeting. So it just means a lot to me to be able to go back to the place where I started getting into music at.”

CD Central more than just a music store

The 30-year run of CD Central as Lexington’s most visible record store entailed more than selling records and CDs. The store was actively involved in presenting programs of local music on holiday weekends (most visibly on Memorial Day and July 4th.) There has also been a steady flow of nationally prominent artists that performed abbreviated in-store sets to promote local concert visits or the annual Record Store Day celebration.

Among the artists: The Black Keys, The Avett Brothers, Drive-By Truckers, Alejandro Escovedo, BR5-49, The Kentucky Headhunters, Bernie Worrell, Andrew Bird, Kathleen Edwards, Los Lonely Boys, Charlie Louvin, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, S.G. Goodman and two artists who played the store in the early days of their soon-to-be-booming solo careers — Jason Isbell and Chris Stapleton.

But one of the greatest honors of running CD Central for Baron came in the store’s final weeks. Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton proclaimed Aug. 28, 2025, as CD Central Day in a ceremony that included a swarm of store employees past and present.

“It was overwhelming,” Baron said. “I never really expected anything like that. I got kind of choked up. I tried to talk and say a few words. I mean, it’s just an incredible honor to be recognized by the city. It’s hard to express how I was feeling other than I was just so grateful. I don’t want to take credit for everything, because running a store is a teamwork kind of thing. I really consider it one of the greatest honors I have ever received.”

“Even before Steve announced he was going to retire, you could walk into CD Central and see all these people,” Lewis said. “There was something about being on campus and seeing young people, even younger teenagers, families and adults all in there looking at records together. There is something wonderful about that.

“We’re still going to be the South Limestone music store. And we’re excited about every part of that.”

This story was originally published September 4, 2025 at 4:50 AM.