CD store closing downtown

After nearly 15 years a downtown business owner is calling it quits. Fred Champion owns CD Alley on Market Street. He says it’s time to move on.

The store that houses new and old CDs and vintage vinyl will close January 31. Champion says business has been slow, but he’s managed to survive.

Many customers, though, are upset. They say music stores like CD Alley are becoming more scarce as more people purchase their music online.

“When you buy it online it kinda depersonalizes it and you just kinda listen to it on your computer,” customer Henry Blanton said. “I like the ritual of a CD. You know, getting a glass of wine and sitting down and listening to a whole CD all the way through.”

CD Alley’s departure will open up a prime Market Street storefront down near the river.