In college towns across USA, record stores bite the dust

UNDATED (AP) — From State College, Pa., to Chapel Hill, N.C., record stores in college towns are making their last sales.

The owner of City Lights Records in State College says it’s only a matter of time before he closes his storefront and sells online only. Rival State College record stores Arboria and Vibes have closed as students increasingly download their music.

Downloading music has hurt the business of record stores everywhere, but stores in college towns are hurt even more. College students are the perfect market for music downloads. They have low incomes, small living quarters and endless bandwidth.

Near the University of North Carolina campus, Schoolkids Records is closing down at the end of the month. Owner Mike Phillips says he’s been getting a lot of e-mail messages, some from angry customers. He says if they’re so concerned, they should have stopped in once in a while and bought a CD.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)