Culture
Haffa’s Records to Close End of September
By: Emily Votaw
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Haffa’s Records will permanently close its doors at the end of September, according to co-owner and longtime employee Andrew Lampela.
“Things change. The way people absorb media these days has definitely changed dramatically in the past couple of years. The writing has been on the wall since whenever Napster came out, back in 2001 or whatever,” said Lampela, who has been shopping at Haffa’s since his high school days as a budding metalhead in Amesville; and has worked there for about 17 years. “On one hand it’s kind of sad to think about it not being here, but on the other hand things change and adult decisions come into play and adult decisions won this time.”
Haffa’s Records started in the mid-’70s out of the basement of it’s current location at 15 West Union Street; moving to the upstairs retail space in 2003. Co-owner Eric Gunn has owned the establishment for over 20 years.
Look for a more in-depth look at the legacy of Athens’ most long-standing record store in a feature on woub.org/culture in the coming weeks.