Today we’d like to introduce you to David Eckstrom.
David, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started as a record collector / dealer out at Traders Village in 1981. I opened the first retail location in Irving in 1984 which was followed by a second retail location in Arlington in 1989. In 1998 I purchased an acre of land right off of Highway 360 at the Mayfield exit and built my own larger retail location which is 11,500 square feet of retail floor space. I have been in business at this location for 19 years now.
Has it been a smooth road?
I choose to expand at a slower rate than the growth of the market living off of my cash flow so my growth has been relatively smooth. Buying my acre of land was a major leap of faith putting myself into $800,000 debt in which I was confident enough in based on my past retail experience that I could handle the burden. It took me 17 years, but I have paid off my building from my cash flow.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Forever Young Records story. Tell us more about the business.
We are a rather a unique retail music store not specializing, but rather pride ourselves on our large selection and high quality. I view my business more as a service to my customers then as a typical retail store selling merchandise. I focus on selection and high quality over discounts and quick turnover. After 33 years my business has survived while most of my national competitors have not (i.e. Sound Warehouse, Tower Records, Blockbuster Music, Virgin Megastore, and even Bestbuy and Walmart music departments). Our store includes 50,000 different CD titles, 20,000 Used CDs at a discounted price, 50,000 like new vintage records, & 20,000 factory new current release vinyl. We also sell 45s new and used, used cassettes, 8-tracks, and some pre-recorded reel to reel tapes. We dabble in vintage stereo equipment and brand new record players at reasonable prices. We have 20 glass cases displaying rare memorabilia and we have a specialty vinyl LP room full of rare and collectible records. Did I mention posters and t-shirts? We have those too.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Though my brick and mortar retail store will always have a place for my customers, I envision the general public giving up on trying to find rare and obscure LPs and CDs in any physical store and will shift their search to online websites. We have been selling online through our own website, www.foreveryoungrecords.com, as well as established online retail websites.
Contact Info:
- Address: 2955 South State Highway 360, Grand Prairie, TX 75052
- Website: http://www.foreveryoungrecords.com/
- Phone: 972-352-6299
- Email: sales@foreveryoungrecords.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fyrtx/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ForeverYoungRecords/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/foreveryoungtx
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0_i_ggRHvjTNFIObgpNz-w
Image Credit:
Tavia Muzzi
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