Today we’d like to introduce you to John and Susan Polifronio.
Thanks for sharing your story with us John and Susan. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
John and I met 40 years ago in Venice. He was working at Small World Books and I was an RN at Santa Monica Hospital. John was smitten at age 14 when he heard Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and for the next 25 years John’s passion was as a collector and devotee of classical music with avant-garde, flamenco and philosophy thrown in. We met in 1978 when I was living in Venice and working as an RN at Santa Monica Hospital. I lived a few blocks from Small World Books and John and I bonded over our love of Classical music. John wanted to open a store and had a small section at SWB to sell his classical vinyl. This was an incredible time in Los Angles and especially Hollywood for buying used vinyl. There were so many collectors that weekends were a nirvana of yard sales with collections being sold by musicians, studio workers, collectors and reps from recording studios. One collection of 1000’s we picked up from a guy having a sale in front of a Church. We were just driving by and there he was with boxes of mostly Folkways recordings.
The largest collection we ever bought was 30,000 lp’s; the smallest a box of vinyl. As we gathered records for our store we branched out from Classical to incorporate all the other, wonderful genres and the books and ephemera that were part of many collections. So, here we are 40 years later. We’ve had a gallery where we had readings, music, book launches and shows involving the kids from Cheremoya elementary school just down the block. John had a following that would come in just to indulge their passions with him. I love the incredible variety of people you meet in a book/record store.
Everyone from famous musicians and authors to kids who had the passion John did come through our doors. We’ve been part of many films and music videos and have had great experiences with student filmographers to Prince and Michael Jackson. We were part of a Super Bowl ad a number of years ago and have been interviewed for YouTube videos by students and professionals. My biggest passion was always books and it is absolutely fascinating to enter into the world of collector’s and learn about their passions through their collections.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
When we first went into business we did not have a plan so it’s rather surprising to find ourselves still here. Trying to rent our first space was difficult as no one seemed to take selling used vinyl and books seriously. We finally subletted part of a frame shop where we are now. We started with 600 sq. ft. and tremendous naivety but it turns out we were in a perfect location. John, with no experience, built our first store on the sidewalk in front. We had all the boxes inside and it turns out that people didn’t care that there weren’t any bins and were perfectly happy to root around the boxes. We didn’t know how to price anything and learned trial and error. I am still embarrassed to run into old boxes with “first editions” that aren’t. But we stumbled through and learned.
It was just John and I for the first four years and I was working from 8am until noon as a research assistant to the head of Lymphoma and Leukemia at County USC. I would leave, come to the store (we opened at 1pm) and work until 10pm. John had taken a job at another bookstore and would come in later in the afternoon. We rarely got home before 1am as there was so much to do. For two years before we opened and four years after John would set up, using the Recycler, about 60 sales a weekend. It took four years before we had enough coming in the store and through private sales to stop doing so many garage sales. We are very proud that, no matter what, we were never late on rent, paid our bills and when we started having employees have never missed a payroll. The most difficult expenses are really insurance and employees. It takes the first half of the year just to cover that and taxes.
Most of the second half covers rent/mtg and other expenses that you incur in a brick and mortar store. You’re net is great if you make 20% but with the cost of doing business that has been a challenge for a long time. Online retailers have really taken a chunk out of our business but we don’t fault them. It is our responsibility to stay relevant to our customers although watching someone find a book in our store and then buy it online while still in the store is a bit galling. We can’t alter our prices to compete because brick & mortar expenses just keep going up. Right now we are trying to figure out how to survive with the livable wage. Our employee expenses which should not be more than 20% are hovering closer to 50% as John and I deal with hiring people to replace us as we face health issues. You can’t afford to get sick when you own a small business. Because of my nursing background we’ve offered health insurance for the last 25 years and that has been really difficult. But all this aside; I could have stayed in research which I loved but the challenge and variety of tasks in owning this particular business are very rewarding. I wouldn’t change it for anything.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Counterpoint Records & Books story. Tell us more about the business.
We are known for our wide selection of books on the arts, literature, poetry, film, stage, and philosophy with a wide variety of other categories. Counterpoint Records & Books and the Harmony Fine Books frequently claim high honors on local Best Of lists. We are celebrating our 40th year of business and have a wide selection of books focusing mainly on the arts, literature, poetry, film, stage, and philosophy with a wide variety of other categories, ephemera and some memorabilia. Our vinyl and cd’s cover all genres but with particular strengths in Classical, Jazz, International, and Rock.
It seemed more expedient to put that in but what I think sets us apart is the passion of our employees for what we do. Everyone has there own strengths and together that gives us a great variety. We’re a family in the best sense. John doesn’t spend time in the store. He is 80 now but it was his passions that gave us a name. Anyone that cared about Classical music would stop by to talk to him and would all glean something from his encyclopedic knowledge and exquisite taste. Our manager, Dave, has been with us for over 20 years. He has a second life as a multi-media artist and has had many shows in galleries and museums as well as teaching and speaking engagements in his specialty. We probably wouldn’t still exist without him. We have an artist, a musician, a writer and a film, comics and eclectic music buff as employees. I think this gives us something special for our customers: being helped by people who really care about what they are doing and have a depth of knowledge to help them find what they need or just provide a welcoming place to browse for a few hours. What I find very special is how many people have told me that our store helped them survive, their childhood, downturn economically, during difficult times in their life. We’ve always been welcoming and part of our Community both as a business and as engaged citizens.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Well, we had the good luck to care passionately about what we were doing. That meant we were saved from the fear we could have felt in going into business when neither of us had any experience in business and really could have crashed and burned. When we went in for our interview before they granted us a resale license; the City employee asked how much we expected to make. They needed an estimate to decide on how we should pay our sales tax. John and I looked at each other, realizing the thought had never crossed our minds and blurted out $2000/month because that sounded like so much money in 1979. The guy looked at us in astonishment and suggested perhaps we should do something other than go into business.
Within six months, I realized why he said that. Since I was working another job and John also we were able to last long enough to start making enough to just be in the store but that took a good four years. John and I had the good luck of not being afraid of work and long hours. We had the good luck of balancing each other out and not wanting to both do the same things. It might sound odd but the 1994 earthquake brought tough health challenges for John but it conversely helped us stay in business. Our landlord decided to sell. We made an offer that they thought too low but a year later, we were lucky that no one else stepped in, they accepted. We were able to secure an SBA loan and our mortgage was less than our rent!
As renters, we would have been gone years ago. Downturns are actually not bad for the resale business. People need money and their records and books had value for us. We are known for paying fairly. I’ve never wanted anyone to feel cheated when they see one of their items for sale in our store. The Internet has been a huge challenge and the last downturn and the high cost of living has impacted disposable income. With the rapid increase in minimum wage we will be challenged to keep going but we have hope.
Pricing:
- We pay 10% to 50% in cash of what we will price an item of the cover price depending on how quickly we think it might sell, the condition, or how special it is. Sometimes it can take a few years to turn over an item. There are also many items that never sell and those we end up donating to Foundations that have resale stores. We give 1/3rdhigher in trade.
- If the items are less than very good we will pay accordingly.
Contact Info:
- Address: 5911 Franklin Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90028 - Website: www.CounterpointLa.com
- Phone: 323-957-7965
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @CounterpointRecordsandBooks
- Facebook: counterpointrecordsandbooks
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