Today we’d like to introduce you to Lance Barresi.
Lance, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
We opened Permanent Records in Chicago in October of 2006 in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood of Chicago. After working for managing record stores collectively for nearly 20 years, we decided to start our own, with an all-killer no-filler policy and an emphasis on the things we liked most, namely rare vintage vinyl and obscure, limited independent releases.
Shortly thereafter, we started our own label and opened a webstore. We’ve released records by bands from all over the globe, including artists such as Moon Duo, Frankie and the Witch Fingers, Ty Segall, Cave, Cheveu, Purling Hiss, Puffy Areolas, Brain Idea, King Blood, and dozens more. After 5 years of success and countless in-store performances by incredible bands, we opened our second location in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, Californ-I-A. After a few years in Eagle Rock, we moved to 5116 York Blvd. in Highland Park. Since then, we’ve expanded our operation in LA with two new stores (1816 W. Sunset & 5123 York Blvd.) and in September of 2017 we sold our Chicago store to focus our efforts on our LA operation.
We eat, drink, breathe, and sleep music every day and have ever since we can remember. We’ve worked in various industries, doing a variety of work, and the only thing we’ve ever done that felt supremely rewarding was working in a record store. Even though the hours are long and the paycheck is feeble, we’d still prefer to work in this industry than do just about anything else. Anyone who’s ever worked in a record store knows what we’re talking about, but only a handful of us are able handle the dedication and hard work it takes to open their own shop. We have that drive and we work VERY hard to keep ourselves knowledgeable in this field, so we do this…EVERY…SINGLE…DAY! We do EVERYTHING we can to make our own store our favorite store.
Taste, knowledge, and friendliness are key for us. All of the people behind the counter must have all of these traits. Everyone at Permanent does. You have to know what’s what, what’s good, and what sucks. You can’t run a shotgun shack these days and you can’t get away with lying to people for very long. Record store supporters are some of the most savvy and interesting people in the world. You can’t fool them into buying crap these days, which is great for us ‘cuz nothing bums us out more than crappy music. We handpick most of the records we sell and we know who will like them and who won’t. We present these records accordingly. This mentality translates to all aspects of our business from in-store performances to new releases – from Permanent t-shirts to used cassettes.
We’ve hosted hundreds of incredible in-store performances. Nobunny pranced around our shop and climbed on the bins in his tighty whities. Kurt Vile performed a solo acoustic set at Noon on New Year’s Day. Ty Segall has blown not one, but two PA systems in our store. Times New Viking and Clockcleaner filled our infantile Chicago store with more people than we ever thought possible. We’ve been graced by the presence of legends such as Meat Puppets, Kid Congo, Paul Collins, Axemen, Scream, and more. Future legends such as Francis Harold and the Holograms, Puffy Areolas, Smith Westerns, Woods, Vivian Girls, Bitchin Bajas, Zola Jesus, Pop. 1280, Royal Baths, Night Beats, Milk Music, Apache Dropout, The Men, Liminanas, Circle Pit, Kitchen’s Floor, Human Eye, Mikal Cronin, Obits, Umberto, Sex Church, Pink Reason, Purling Hiss…
Our favorite thing about our store is our stock. At any given time, we have access to more excellent new, used, and rare records than we could listen to in a lifetime. We’re vinyl rich! And there’s always new stuff flowing through the doors. Our store is a river and we’re on the best float trip EVER!
Everything we get goes in the store before it goes online and our walls are constantly filled with a variety of rare and collectible LPs and the wall overflows into the bins. There’s a wall of rare singles as well and both are ever-changing. We’re a store, not a museum. C’mon by and have a look for yourself. Savvy shoppers also know that many of the common new items we carry are certain to become future rarities, sometimes immediately.
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?
It’s not always been a smooth road, but that’s life. We’ve had our ups and downs over the years, but we’ve always come out on top. We’ve learned a lot through trial and error and we’ve never had a safety net to fall back on. We don’t come from wealth. This shop is our livelihood and we don’t have a silent partner. Everything we’ve built we’ve earned ourselves through hard work and dedication and we’ll continue to do so as long as there’s people out there that want records.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Permanent Records story. Tell us more about the business.
We specialize in used and collectible records, but we also carry new releases, cassettes, CDs, stereo equipment and other music related ephemera like original punk flyers. We’re most well known for having an excellent selection of rare and classic records of all genres in near mint condition, but we’re not above selling $1 records either. We have an eclectic selection and we have a lot of turnover.
I’m most proud of the fact that we built our business from the ground up independently. We’ve gone from one modest store in Chicago to 3 locations in LA in just over a decade in an era where people said it couldn’t be done. We’ve defied the odds in a declining industry and carved out a niche for ourselves with our own blood, sweat, and tears.
Aside from our incredible selection, I think the thing that sets us apart from others is that we’re honest, hard-working people that always give people a fair shake and friendly service in an industry that’s not exactly known for those things.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
We don’t have much luck (good or bad). We work hard for everything that comes to us and we do our best to avoid pitfalls.
Contact Info:
- Address: 5116 York Blvd., LA, CA 90042
5123 York Blvd., LA, CA 90042
1816 W. Sunset, LA, CA 90026 - Website: PermanentRecordsLA.com
- Phone: 323.739.6141
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/permanentrecordsla/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/permanentrecordsla/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/Permanent_LA
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/permanent-records-los-angeles-3
Image Credit:
Jim Newberry
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