It’s a bit of a rough time for record stores in the D.C. area. Earlier this month, on the eve of Record Store Day, Joe’s Record Paradise launched a crowdfunding campaign to help save the longtime Maryland store. Yesterday, Adams Morgan staple Crooked Beat announced that they’d be closing their currently location at the end of May, with plans to open a new location but no space confirmed yet.

“Today we are sorry to announce that Crooked Beat will be closing at our current location of 2116 18th Street in DC on Sunday, May 29th,” owner Bill Daly announced in a Facebook post on the store’s page. According to Daly and a recent article on WAMU 88.5’s Bandwidth, poor conditions at the store’s location have caused him to develop “serious respiratory problems.” Additionally, Daly writes that “over the last several months, there have also been many customers who have emailed, called, or even openly commented on the unsatisfactory conditions existing within our store space.” Because of these building’s issues, Daly turned down a long-term extension on his lease. “Instead of continuing to operate under these substandard conditions, we feel it necessary to leave and start looking for a new location,” he writes.

Though Crooked Beat, which has been in Adams Morgan for the past 12 years, doesn’t have a new space yet, Daly says the store will be operating online beginning May 31. With Joe’s Record Paradise’s financial problems and now Crooked Beat’s closure, things may seem bleak for local vinyl heads. Fear not, there are still plenty of places in the area to blow all your cash on wax.

Photo by Matt Cohen