Legendary NYC electronics and music store J&R closes its doors today after 43 years. J&R isn’t going out of business. The closing is to allow a full-blown renovation of its cluster of stroefronts on Park Row, just south of City Hall in Lower Manhattan.
J&R will continue to sell electronics, cameras, small appliances and music equipment online while the Park Row stores are shuttered, through some time next year.
J&R opened as a small record shop in the basement of one of the buildings in 1971 and grew from there, and carried everything from best-selling albums to more limited interest choices such as the album of Eskimo throat singers I found there back in the days of 33 RPM records.
Owners Joe and Rachelle Friedman said they were re-inventing the store with state-of-the-art technology and retailing trends. The design hasn’t been made public, but here’s hoping the individual stores – one for cameras, another for audio, yet another for electronics, will be combined into a single megastore, more like B&H or Best Buy.
NOTE – Next week is Passover, and Jewish-owned electronics and camera stores including B&H and Adorama will be closed for the eight-day festival, April 14-22.
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