Foo Fighters inject new life into local record store

NILES

The Record Connection has become somewhat of an attraction.

A few weeks ago, the Foo Fighters rolled up to the store in the Pine Tree Place plaza on Youngstown-Warren Road and brought the rock concert of a lifetime.

Hot, loud and inspiring, the show brought 150 lucky fans together in a garage-like concert setting with a larger-than-life band that typically rocks in places like Madison Square Garden.

“[The concert] has brought a lot of new attention and brought people back to the store,” said Jeff Burke, owner of Record Connection. “It’s a relief for me because we were beating our brains out trying to get people back.”

Burke has been the owner of his 1,020 square-foot store since the 1980s.

As a young man, he found his love for music through records like many listened to before the age of CDs and downloads.

Burke’s store started with the records and 8-tracks. Then, there was a transition to compact discs.

The CDs came from Japan, at first, and were pricey — at least $30 for one.

“Everyone told me I was crazy about selling compact discs,” Burke said.

But then they took off. The store would offer two CDs for $20 on certain days, which brought in a crowd. Record Connection had 24,000 CD titles stacked and stocked everywhere.

When the 2000s hit, so did downloading and the Record Connection’s business took a hit.

“Something made me hang on,” Burke said.

And then something happened.

Read the rest of the story in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.