Record setter: Backstreet Records founder still feelin' groovy

It was 1979 when Gordie Tufts first thought about opening a record store.

"Record prices were creeping up to get this like $8.98, and people were complaining that was too pricey," said Tufts, the owner of Backstreet Records in Saint John and Fredericton.

Ona trip to Halifax,Tufts noticedtwo stores dealing in used records and collectibles. He came back to Saint John with a novel idea: a used record store in the uptown.

The first Backstreet Records shop opened in 1980 in the Ritchie Building, a few doors from O'Leary's Pub on Princess Street.

"There was no retail in that part of town at the time," he said.

"There was a repair shop beside us, and that was it. It was literally a back street."

Things were rocky at first: there was a rash of break-ins. Then the store was destroyed by arson on Christmas Eve 1982.

Two months later, Backstreet relocated to a compact 600-square-foot storefront at 124 Germain St.

It's been there ever since.

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History written on the walls

The tiny space wears its 36-year history well.

The wrought iron grating on the front window was "designed to match the archways at the Union Club across the street," said Tufts.

A giant cactus stands beside posters of Johnny Cash, Blondie, and Buffy St. Marie, and records hang from the ceiling amid a fragrant haze of Gonesh No. 8 incense.

Customers take their time picking through the shop's thousands of "classic rock, jazz, blues, punk, a bit of metal, and local tunes," said Tufts. The only genres from which they tend to shy away are "modern country and classical."

As for the customers, "even if they don't buy anything, and just come in and have a chat, the social aspect of a record store, the chat that goes down, is just as important."

Backstreet's in-store shows by local acts like Bad People, Motherhood, and Little You Little Me, as well as bigger regional stars like Joel Plaskett and Rose Cousins, can attract attendees ranging from teenagers to senior citizens.

Recently, both Dave Cousins of U.K. rock veterans the Strawbs and Jay Ferguson of Sloan were in the store.

"The age difference between them is probably 40 years," said Tufts, "and they were chatting about the business and what it's like to be on the road. It was interesting to see."

'Grand-daddy' of retail on Germain

Tufts was among the first independent boutiques on Germain Street, according to Anne McShane, owner of the nearby Feel Good Store.

"When you look at the shops on Germain Street Good Fibrations, Heartbreak Boutique, Collectibles he's the granddaddy of us all," she said.

Tufts also has several actual grandchildren. He and his wife, Sue, maintain a beautifully landscaped hobby farm located on the outskirts of Titusville, N.B. Their seven kids have now left the nest.

We've always been there and catered to a collector's market.- Gordie Tufts of Backstreet Records

With two stores in two different cities, and a small army of kids, he's learned to prioritize.

"You can't be everywhere and do everything," said Tufts.

"There have been a lot of shows I've missed over the years."

The ethos of stubborn self-denial doesn't appeal toeveryone even in a province obsessed with attracting newbusiness.

But it's the hard work of small business owners,just as much as multibillion-dollar industries, thathasshaped the fabric of the 231-year-old city.

InTufts's view, it's also whymanymom-and-pop shops have withstood the slow battering of a sluggish economy, an aging population and the rise of big box stores.

For those considering starting a business, Tuftshas some frank advice:

"You won't have a retirement or a paid vacation," said Tufts.

"Owning your own business means you sacrifice a lot."

Not bowing to trends

All things considered, however, the record store game isn't what it used to be.

Plain "stubbornness," Tufts says, has allowed Backstreet to stay open while others, including big chains like Sam the Record Man, Radioland, and CD Plus, have long been relegated to the dustbin of recorded music history.

"We never stopped selling vinyl," said Tufts, adding the storesimply added cassettes and CDs to the shelves when those formats were in their heyday, rather than tossing out vinyl,asmany other retailers did in the '90s.

"We've always been there and catered to a collector's market."

The rise of digital music has contributed to "down periods in the 36 years we've been hanging out," Tufts said.

"But we kept going.It's "customers that keep the doors open.

"Arrogance can play a devastating part in your business. If you don't treat your customers with respect, they walk."

He has high praise for Backstreet staff, including Corey Bonnevie, whoTufts calls a "major player in the Saint John music scene," and Matt Weaver, who recently "closed the store and ran down the street" to sell a Pearl Jam record to a departing cruise ship passenger.

"It's a knowledge of the local scene, and keeping an eye on the shows and CD releases that allows us to rely mainly on word-of-mouth."

Saint John is known as an industrial hub thatlivesanddieson major projects; however, small businesses, just as much as multibillion-dollar industries, have shaped fabric of the 231-year-old city.

In a province obsessed with attracting new business and where hefty development incentivesdon't always translate into long-term successmany of Saint John's mom-and-pop shops have managed to withstand the slow battering of asluggisheconomy, anaging populationand the rise ofbig box stores.

Small businesses employ 25,000 to 29,000 Saint Johners among Chamber of Commerce members alone and cumulatively, over 8.2 million individuals in Canada. Small businesses make up about 70 per cent of the total private labour force, according to Statistics Canada.

'Want to buy a record store?'

As Tufts, who turns 61 in February, prepares to retire, some have expressed interest in buying the business, although there have been no solid offers yet.

"When I opened the store, I had a goal to be done by 45," he said.

"At 65, I want out of here. Anyone want to buy a record store?"

It doesn't appear the record-setting reign in Saint John will end anytime soon.

"We've been selling records since 1980: it never went away," said Tufts."Vinyl is part of people's lives."