Sound Shack Moves to Newburgh Vintage Emporium Thanks to Rent Hike

Sound Shack owners sit outside of their store as they clear out, gaining new wind to set up at Newburgh Vintage Emporium.

Just after finishing lunch at Beacon Bread Company, I crossed the street to pick up some dog food at Beacon Barkery and saw these two sitting outside of the Sound Shack in what seemed to be a reflective mood. Normally, when one sees the store owners sitting outside in front of their store, it is because they are getting fresh air after being behind the counter.

In this case, I had just learned via the Beacon Buy Sell Group on Facebook that Sound Shack was closing. Sandy had posted their sales counter for sale. And when you post a sales counter for sale, that's usually not a good sign.

The first response of those who are familiar with the turnover rate of storefronts on Main Street may have the typical response of: "Oh darn. Not enough foot traffic." But such was not the case. The rent for the entire building, apartment rentals included, went up by 30%. That's sort of a lot, and we have not reached out to the New Jersey based landlord to ask why, and are hoping it's because he hadn't been raising the rent over the years of city tax increases or insurance rate hikes, but it's almost reassuring that the Sound Shack was moving and grooving, but they'd rather not sustain a bump of that margin.

Fear not record collecting junkies!! Sound Shack is moving to Newburgh Vintage Emporium which seems like a great spot for them and surrounds them with vintagy goodness. Follow Sound Shack on their social media channels at Facebook and Instagram to learn how to buy they new vinyl, since new can't be sold at Newburgh Emporium, but all of their old stuff will, and possibly any equipment they are selling, like record players or speakers. Because now that we know that records are "a thing", as I learned on Record Store Day, which was heavily promoted by Sound Shack, we all need record players, and stat.