b-side records to continue after heartwarming response...jan 16, 2017 · records, posters and...

B-Side records to continue after heartwarming response | Madison Wisconsin Business News | host.madison.com

B-Side records to continue after heartwarming response

Barry Adams | Wisconsin State Journal Jan 16, 2017

Steve Manley now knows how George Bailey felt.

Manley’s uncle didn’t misplace $8,000, Henry Potter is nowhere to be found, and Madison plays the role of BedfordFalls, New York.

But Manley, 59, can’t help noticing the parallels between “It’sa Wonderful Life” and the ordeal that nearly closed his B-Side Records store on State Street this winter.

BARRY ADAMS, [email protected]

Ralph Cross, left, co-founder of B-Side Records, helps a customer last week at the store at 436 State St. Cross sold hisstake in the business in 2004 but has returned to help his longtime friend Steve Manley who was injured in a bicyclecrash in late November. Manley, who served as manager for Cross for over 20 years and bought the business in 2007,could return to work on a part-time basis later this month.

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In fact, Manley probably has more friends than Bailey couldever have hoped.

Instead of a laundry basket full of cash, Manley has received$25,000 from more than 600 contributors in a GoFundMecampaign to help him keep his store open. A bicycle crash onNov. 28 left Manley with a broken hip and grave concernsabout how to staff his record store where he put in 75 hours aweek.

Those concerns were quickly put aside when the $6,000 goalwas reached within five hours and the campaign suspendedafter just a few days. Manley, who needs a walker to getaround his house, is hoping to return to work on a part-timebasis later this month.

“The outpouring of support and well-wishes and offers towork was overwhelming. Who knew so many people caredabout a little old record store? Not us,” Manley said in anemail interview. “We are humbled and thankful beyondwords for the kindness of the community.”

The small shop at 436 State St. has survived the decline invinyl record sales in the late 1990s and 2000s and the arrivalof digital music through iTunes and on-line streamingservices.

Changes in the retail makeup of the city’s Downtown has ledto more bars and restaurants and rising rents while alteredshopping habits have forced some retailers out of the StateStreet area.

B-Side Records owner Steve Manley is recuperating from a bike crash but could return tothe store later this month on a part-time basis. Manley has worked at the store since 1983and has been its owner since 2007.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

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But B-Side is a survivor. Vinyl sales make up about 50percent of the store’s revenue and has been buoyed bynational promotions like Record Store Day and a resurgenceover the last eight years of the retro sound, feel andexperience of playing a record on throwback technology thatincludes a stylus and turntable.

“This phenomenon was completely unpredictable even 12years ago. Vinyl was assumed an antique, obsolete format,with only small numbers of fringe collectors as potentialcustomers,” Manley said. “At that time B-Side stocked justone bin. Now vinyl comprises over half our inventory. Recordcompanies and the few remaining pressing plants can hardlykeep up with demand these days.”

B-Side Records, 436 State St., has been a part of the Downtown retaillandscape since 1982 and is the sole remaining music store on State Street.


New and used vinyl records make up for than half of the sales at B-SideRecords.


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The 700-square-foot store is about the width of a couple ofbowling lanes and is crammed with CDs, new and used vinylrecords, posters and turntables. The shop sells guitar picksand drumsticks, and is a big promoter of local music. WhenRalph Cross and Dan Jenkins moved to Madison to open thestore in 1982 after graduating from the University ofMichigan, there were several record shops Downtownincluding Record Town, Discount Records, Paradise Records,Slatewood, Wazoo and Penny Lane.

Today, only B-Side remains, and Cross, 59, is back behind thecounter helping out his longtime friend.

“We’ve been corresponding on the phone and I’ve beengetting things to him so we’ve kind of been keeping up as bestas we can since he’s been gone,” said Cross, who sold hisshare of the business to Jenkins in 2004 with Jenkins sellingout in about 2007 to Manley. “It’s been fun to be back. I’mglad to help. It’s no sweat for me. For a few months it’s kindof nostalgic and fun to get caught up on music again.”

Manley was finishing up an associates degree at MadisonArea Technical College, working at a nearby sandwich shopand started shopping at B-Side as soon as it opened. Ross andJenkins were customers at the restaurant where Manleyfrequently dropped hints that he’d like to work at the recordstore. He was hired in June 1983 and married his wife, Anita,that same month.

Ralph Cross is among those filling in for owner Steve Manley who was injuredin a bike crash in late November. A crowd funding campaign raised $25,000 tohelp pay for staffing in Manley's absence but the money that remains could be used toremodel the store. Cross said he was not surprised by the generosity of Manley's friends,family and customers.


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Manley was ultimately named manager of the store that inthe mid-1990s had sales of about $1 million and six to eightemployees, Ross said last week. Sales plateaued and begandeclining and then went from “bad to worse” when Appleintroduced the iPod in 2001. Scores of record stores went outof business, but Manley took out a second mortgage to buythe store when he had the chance. However, he had tobecome essentially the store’s lone employee in order to keepthe business solvent.

“It was a struggle, but it was my passion,” Manley said. “SoI’ve worked 75-hour weeks ever since.”

Manley’s son Brendan has been working at the store since2014, when Manley broke his collarbone and elbow in a bikecrash but the November 2016 crash was much more severeand debilitating.

Manley almost took the bus to work the day of the crashbecause of rain but it had stopped by the time he was ready toleave his house so he rode his bike, although the pavementwas wet and temperatures were in the upper 30s. Henormally takes the Capital City Trail from the East Side buton that day he decided to forgo his normal route that wouldhave taken him along Lake Monona and instead headed up to

From the Bob Dylan records to Sherwood stereo receiver, B-Side Records onState Street is a throwback.


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the Capitol Square via East Wilson Street. But when he triedcrossing the railroad tracks where John Nolen Drive becomesBlair Street, the front tire of his bike slipped and lockedbetween the rail and tie.

“I went down hard,” Manley wrote. “A couple pedestriansasked if I was OK, but I didn’t know, and stoically said, ‘Ithink so.’ After a few minutes of trying to get back up, a driverwho had seen me, stopped and asked if I needed a ride,”Manley wrote. “I didn’t know if I had broken bones, but itseemed possible. Even so, I asked him to take me to work,instead of a clinic. He kindly put my bike in his station wagonand dropped me off on State Street, where I then limped tothe shop.”

Manley waited at the shop for six hours until his wife couldget off work to take him to a doctor. In the meantime, hecalled Cross, who came down to help run the store for Manleysince he could barely move. X-rays showed Manly had abroken and compacted hip bone and an elbow fracture.Surgery followed the next day when doctors put his hip backtogether with three screws and told him he would be out ofwork for two to three months.

Cross and other former employees like Dave Colby and JimAckerman, along with Brendan and his girlfriend AliviaKleinfeldt, have been keeping the business running. Anita,Steve’s wife, initially proposed a crowdfunding campaign but

A customer browses the music selections at B-Side Records, founded in 1982at 436 State St. The business has survived the digital revolution and has beenbuoyed by a resurgence in vinyl records.


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Manley declined. So, without his knowledge, she, Brendanand Kleinfeldt came up with a plan for the GoFundMecampaign to pay for employees in Manley’s absence.

“We had no idea how long it might take,” Manley said. “Wehad no idea even if the goal would be met ever.”

The overwhelming response means Manley not only hasemployees to run the store but the extra cash will allow himto make renovations to the business, which could help ensuremany more years of record sales on the iconic street.

“I just didn’t know how people would respond to helping abusiness trying to keep its doors open but it became apersonal thing. It was more about Steve,” Cross said. “Steve’sa really great guy and he’s been here a long time. It had a lotto do with him and the fact this store is kind of a dinosaurand a lot of people didn’t want to see it go away.”

Shops like B-Side Records are far and few between but the business hassurvived thanks to the efforts of owner Steve Manley who works 75 hours aweek as the only full-time employee. Manley has been out of commission since a bikecrash in late November but friends, like Ralph Cross, background, and family have filled into keep the business going until Manley's return.


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b-side records to continue after heartwarming response...jan 16, 2017 · records, posters and...

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