Chicago Reader Blog Shocker: Reckless Clerks Have A 'Tude

So I happened to click on over to Peter Margasak's Blog on The Reader's homepage last Friday and realized that I had totally dropped the ball on some significant local music news from last week. Seemingly laughing in the face of all of the traditional brick-and-mortar record stores that have been dropping like flies in the past few years, Reckless Records has announced that they will actually be expanding their local chain by opening up a new store downtown at 26 E. Madison(!?!). However, even more unexpected than a traditional record store opening in 2007, may be the fact that a longtime Reader music critic is perpetuating one of the most cliched aspects of the traditional indie record shop; the cranky store clerk.

Yes, that's right, you can now pick up the latest releases from the likes of Thrill Jockey, Drag City, Matador, etc. on vinyl right after you pick up some new trousers at Marshall Fields Macy's and right before you slap on your skates to visit the rink at Millenium Park. I completely agree with Margasak that this is a curious location choice and it should be very interesting to see how well Reckless plays in the loop. However, in the article I found it really odd to hear a veteran local indie music journalist (i.e., an educated music fan that doesn't shop at Best Buy) go out of his way to complain about the alleged holier-than-thou attitude of Reckless employees. It got even more bizarre in the comments section. Defending his case against Reckless for a second time in the comments section, Margasak writes:

'OK--last clarification. Maybe they're not your pals, but they're your peers in terms of musical taste. Ask someone who's never been to the store to walk in ask for the new John Mayer CD.'

Huh? Wasn't that cliche worn out like 10 years ago? You know, forever immortalized in the movie High Fidelity? I personally have always been a fan of Reckless and have never had a bad experience with an employee there (probably helps that I'm a bit anti-social myself), but at this point isn't the supposed "rude clerk" factor a given at this point? Wouldn't this be like getting bleacher tickets to a Cubs game in the middle of summer and then complaining that the place was too hot and full of drunk idiots? Love or it hate it, it's become all part of "the experience," no?   

Of course, the ironic part in all of this is that the store that supposedly has the worst employees and and treats their customers the worst is the one that has outlived almost all others. Granted, a lot of this has to do with the fact that they keep a ridiculously small amount of new inventory in stock (my only complaint about the store), and have been able to live off of an almost endless goldmine of used music that flows in and out of their high traffic locations, but hey, they're a real record store still open in 2007!...and they're expanding!?!

OK, so maybe you still think that Reckless employees are all a bunch of pricks, but these pricks seem to know a thing or two about running a successful small record store. Indeed, as Margasak concedes, "they must be doing something right." Unless by some bizarre circumstance Amoeba Records decides to open a Chicago branch, I'll gladly keep supporting my friendly local neighborhood Reckless location.

Comments

[Dave Knapik]

This is really interesting news because Reckless just closed their last London location a few weeks ago. At their height they had locations in Camden, Islington and Soho. Islington closed, Camden closed but I thought Reckless' Soho shops would last forever.

I wonder if this was a strategic move, pulling out of London and focusing on their Chicago success. I'm sad to see them leave London, but good for them and their ability to thrive in Chicago.

I sold them loads of CDs from my collection before I left. Thanks, Reckless, for helping to finance my move to the UK, and sorry you had to leave it! :(

Oh, and I almost missed an opportunity to state the obvious. Peter Margasak is a no-talent assclown. Reckless clerks were probably rude to him 'cos moments before he walked up the counter this conversation took place:

Clerk 1: "Dude, isn't that Margasak?"
Clerk 2: "The guy from The Doors?"
Clerk 1: "No, dude, that's Manzarek. This is the rock critic for the Reader. Really pretentious, total dipshit, surely you must know him?"
Clerk 2: "Oh YEAH, I hate that guy. I hear he has a really lame blog now, too. Let's make him suffer."

Personally I always found the clerks at Reckless really nice. Some eventually became friends of mine.

If he thought the Chicago Reckless clerks were mean, he should have come to visit London and sampled its shining examples of wonderful British customer service.

[Jim Carroll]

yeah, I've heard people tell me that they've had "bad experiences" with Reckless employees. I don't fucking get it. It's a retail store with underpaid employees just like anywhere else. They've always seemed like nice people to me.

[Brittany]

I agree with Annie's comment. There are so many colleges downtown, especially in that area that it makes a lot of sense.

[Carlo Garcia]

I agree, with Tower gone from the loop, it seems right for Reckless to put up shop, if they can fight the steep overhead, I think they will excel. I think it's great they are able to expand.

[Annie]

There's a lot of college students in the Loop - School of the Art Institute, Columbia, Roosevelt, Illinois Institute of Art, etc. I bet Reckless does pretty well downtown.