When Leslie Osborn learned that Square Records would be closing later this year, she made the hour drive from Ashland on Halloween to flip through the Akron store’s bins. The Highland Square record store is a destination for her, she said — she never leaves empty handed.
Weeks later, Brent Sobleski flipped through a different set of bins across town at Kenmore Komics. That store, too, will close later this month — perhaps as soon as Saturday.
Sobleski, who in early December drove an hour and a half from Cadiz, spent $1,050 on more than 100 comic books, priced at 90% off. It’s the third trip he’s made since owner John Buntin, Jr. announced this fall that this would be the store’s last year.
“When I saw John was retiring, I wanted to come up and visit a few more times,” Sobleski said. “It’s one of my favorite stores.”
The pair of closures — Kenmore Komics after nearly four decades, and Square Records after more than 20 years — mean the loss of neighborhood anchors that have long been retail pillars in Akron.
Each draws patrons, like Osborn and Sobleski, from far and near. The shoppers appreciate the thrill of discovery as they search bin by bin for treasures. They value the communities their proprietors have built.
There are other record stores and comic shops in Akron and the surrounding area, but for those who frequent Square Records or Kenmore Komics, there’s something special about those longstanding businesses.
“I saw the news and I had to get here ASAP,” Osborn said. “I’m super sad, but I get it.”
Owners’ personalities helped people feel at home
The last day for Square Records is Dec. 28, said Juniper Sage, the store’s co-owner, along with Dave Ignizio. She said a serious medical issue is causing the closure, and while it’s possible Square Records will reopen in another location, it will be six months or a year before the decision is made.
“I don’t want to give people false hope,” Sage said.
She said Ignizio and Buntin, at Kenmore Komics, are the reason both businesses have such loyal fans. Both are “very charismatic people in their own communities,” she said, and they embraced the aspects of their stores that helped other people feel at home there.
When Square Records opened 23 years ago, there were often shows at the store, Sage said — something that hasn’t happened for years as inventory increased and floor space became more scarce. But patrons like Jake Trombetta, a Cuyahoga Falls resident who played the store’s first anniversary show with his band, the Trombettas, still go there to drop off his latest recordings and peruse the bins for other local acts.
“It’s real sad to see it go,” Trombetta said. “I’m going to miss it.”
Steve Gleghorn said he’s made friends at the store, bonding over shared musical interests. Matt Meister called Ignizio the unofficial mayor of Highland Square, saying he’s the kind of person who always helps others out. And Lance Rosko, a patron for the last six years, said Ignizio has the best taste in music and introduced him to new artists.
“I always tell people this is the best record store I’ve ever come to,” Rosko said. “It’s a huge loss. There’s just never been a store that makes me so excited to dig through the crates.”
Time Traveler Records in West Hill has been open longer — 46 years, owner Scott Shepard said — but the two stores have different clientele. Shepard has a massive CD collection and favors music from the 1960s and ‘70s; Square Records favors more current music.
Shepard said he enjoys people coming in to talk about music and their personal taste. He said he expects a lot of people to be sad about the closure of Square Records, noting their strong clientele base.
He said he may be a fool for continuing his own business, but he’ll continue to do so.
“I plan on dying here,” Shepard said. “I plan on being here until I can’t do it anymore.”
Succession plans difficult for small retailers
Closures like those of Square Records and Kenmore Komics will continue to happen, Sage said — and to some extent they are a good thing, as they allow new businesses to open in established areas. But the difficulty in figuring out what’s next for niche shops is a big part of why stores like hers close.
“Succession plans for small businesses are very difficult,” she said.
Buntin knows. For two years, he’s been trying to sell Kenmore Komics but decided to sell off the inventory and the building instead.
The store, open for 38 years, had some initial offers. But financing didn’t go through, or potential owners didn’t have the knowledge they needed to successfully grade the quality of a book brought in for resale or decide what to offer. It’s something that takes time to teach, Buntin said, and that’s time he didn’t want to spend.
“I’m ready for something different,” the 66-year-old said. “I’m going to enjoy having more time to do whatever I want to do.”
Buntin plans to stay involved in the Kenmore Chamber of Commerce, and he’ll keep the books he has on the history of comics. But he doesn’t expect to get back into the hobby that became his job and he said he’s not sentimental about the fact that his store is closing.
He’s seen patrons trade phone numbers in the aisles so they can stay in touch once they scatter, and he’s taken some himself. Buntin knows he’s disappointing his customer base, and he appreciates that he was able to be in a business for so many years that helped provide an escape for people. But he said it’s time to go.
“It’s not like I’m closing a hospital in the middle of a medical desert,” Buntin said. “I’m just one little store among many.”
Gaining friendships through the stores
Running Rubber City Comics in downtown Akron is general manager Chris Smith’s retirement job.
Smith, who is also in his 60s, said people walking through the door don’t realize how complex the business is. There are readers and there are collectors and their desires do not often overlap.
Buntin was good at curating a selection of new comics, Smith said, while also focusing on the back issue market — something that requires patience.
“When you lose that,” he said, “it’s almost like you lose a museum.”
David Miller, the owner of Red Curtain Comics, also in Kenmore, said he expects some of Buntin’s customers to use the store’s closure as an exit ramp to leave the hobby. Others have already relocated regular orders to his shop.
In addition to selling comics, Miller wanted Red Curtain to be a gathering place for people to hang out and talk about the things they love. He’s seen people bond over “Stranger Things” and come to the store not to shop, but for the camaraderie.
Once a week for more than a decade, Henry Garden visited Kenmore Komics, and he was there this week thumbing through the crates. The experience, he said, is “more than just coming in and buying comics and leaving.”
“It’s kind of part of your life,” he said. “We’ve gained a friendship over the years.”
Other places he shops are just business, but Kenmore Komics is a place where he can joke with people and have a conversation, Garden said. The closure will leave a hole.
That’s true for owners, too. Sage said the vast majority of her close relationships came from the store. She saw plenty of other people make friendships in the aisles. Smith, at Rubber City Comics, said he’s “absolutely sure” record collectors and comics collectors share the same experience.
“We don’t want to lose that cultural meeting place,” he said. “Any time you lose one of those nodes, it hurts the community because it makes it smaller.”
Buntin, at Kenmore Komics, said there was a network of specialty stores — stamps, coins, sports cards among them — that all knew each other and that sent customers to each other. He said those stores are destinations, bringing people to an area who may then shop at other stores or eat.
That’s what Sobleski, the patron who came to Kenmore Komics from Cadiz, used to do every Wednesday — he and a friend would go to breakfast, go to Kenmore Komics then take their haul to an area bar.
One store closing isn’t likely to make or break an area, Buntin said. But Sage, the Square Records co-owner, said she knows that store’s closure will leave a gap.
Most of these niche retail stores are a labor of love, said Bob Ruggiero, the owner of North Hill model train and slot car store Rail N Road Hobby of Akron, who himself is closed as he renovates a new building.
Ruggiero, himself a record collector, said the thrill of hunting something down or discovering something you didn’t know you wanted is part of the draw for a community.
“They’re all one-offs,” he said. “When they go away, they don’t come back.”