Batavia record shop ahead of the curve in vinyl comeback

To hear music industry analysts tell it, one would think that vinyl records have made some sort of dramatic comeback in just the past year or so.

Those of us in the Tri-Cities who stop in at Kiss the Sky music shop in Batavia regularly or occasionally, know differently.

"They've been popular for the past 10 years or more," said Mike Messerschmidt, co-founder of Kiss the Sky, which has had thousands of used and new albums on sale locally for nearly two decades.

Kiss the Sky has seen an increase in vinyl record sales every year, especially during the annual Record Store Day celebrations in late April.

"But now we're kind of seeing a plateau at our little store because there are more players in the game (of selling records) now," Messerschmidt said. "There is a lot of bandwagon jumping going on at a lot of the retailers in selling records now, and many other stores have popped up over the years."

Kiss the Sky has always kept vinyl records in the forefront amid a massive collection of used CDs and other products. It also helps that the store sells new and used turntables, even the most current Bluetooth wireless units.

It's likely that all of the buzz about records and turntables making a "comeback" may bring a few more interested buyers or sellers into the store, but Kiss the Sky doesn't have to change much.

It's been the pace car for years when it comes to singing the praises of vinyl for our music.

Get out the salsa:

Salsa Verde appears to be a hit in Batavia at its new location along Houston Street in a site that both Burger King and Hardee's called home at one point.

The Mexican restaurant does a nice business along Lincoln Highway in St. Charles as well, so it was no surprise to see the Batavia location very busy earlier this month.

OK, it just happened to be Cinco de Mayo, but still, we predicted this restaurant would do well at that spot. Plus, its brand colors of light and dark green work well on the building.

Apartments galore:

On paper, it seems like a no-brainer for city officials to decide to go through with swinging the wrecking ball on parts of Charlestowne Mall and replacing it with townhouses and apartments.

As much as I have written about different possibilities and options for the long-derailed shopping mall, the truth was always lurking in the back of my mind: This place was going nowhere as a future retail spot.

And there may not be enough people to draw from to turn it into an entertainment area either.

So the housing idea is pretty stable. Even though a ton of apartment and townhouse projects are unfolding in the area, let's remember a song we've been singing in these parts for decades: That it is hard for our young people to stay in the area if they choose to do so. Having more options addresses that.

If at all possible, I would encourage developers to keep the movie theater, Von Maur and Carson's in place somehow. Otherwise, the moaning we hear off in the distance may be coming from a Cooper's Hawk boardroom after that company took the plunge to put up one of its popular restaurants on the east side of St. Charles with the understanding that a revived retail project was unfolding.

Maybe I'm rich:

If I had this many bank accounts, there's an outside chance I'd be rich. Instead, I just have a ton of ridiculous emails claiming my financial sky is falling.

At last count, about a dozen of these messages found my email inbox this week, telling me my various bank accounts were potentially hacked and it was important to click on some magic healing link to provide all of my personal information and reopen my accounts. Sometimes, the warnings are about the email account itself.

First, if someone somehow did wipe out my email account, there would be no tears shed over it. Checking personal and business email takes far too much of my day. It would be frightening to find out exactly how much time is wasted in a year with electronic correspondence, much of it just brainless deletion of the types of emails mentioned above.

As for those bank accounts not even in my possession, a clever response to these requests might be, "Thanks, I now have all of the information I need about you that I've been trying to pass along to police for years."

But something tells me to even make a wisecrack like that stirs up the mashed potatoes these people have for brains.

In other words, as annoying as it is, it's all best left alone, ignored and deleted.

dheun@sbcglobal.net