Elastic Witch to Close (1 Viewer)

[rettucs]

last day is Record Store Day.

 

[sleepy]

Boo!
How come?

 

[ann post]

#ffs

 

[rettucs]

Boo!
How come?

This is Gib's statement

Hello friends.

I’ve got a bit of news for you…..

Some of you may have noticed that I haven’t been around the shop as much in the last few months. Basically, the stuff I do outside of the shop has taken priority over the last year. It’s gotten to the point where I need to decide whether to do a couple of things half-heartedly or concentrate on doing one thing properly. So to cut to the chase….. I’m closing Elastic Witch for the foreseeable future.

Let me further explain the decision to close:

When I’m away from the shop I find it increasingly difficult to run it as it should be run. I also have to pay people to work there in my absence. When I’m not around I end up spending more money than I’m taking in. I can’t really justify this anymore. I was never doing this for the money (obviously!) but I’ve always said that I’ll continue to keep it going if it’s ‘in the greens’ but over the last while this hasn’t been the case. Don’t get me wrong! If I was able to concentrate more on the shop I’d be able to keep it floating above the surface but I just don’t have the required time or money to invest in it at the moment.

Another reason that I’ve made this decision is because I need a change of direction in my life. I need to move on to other things. Everybody feels the need for a change every so often, right? I’ve been running Elastic Witch for nearly three years not to mention the other record shops I’ve worked in at various points over the last 10 years. That’s a lot of hours behind the counter. As much as I love interacting with customers, musicians, labels, distributors, promoters and chancers - I think that now is the right time to change direction. I hope you guys understand this!

I’m not going to disappear of the face of the Earth. I’ve built up a nice little brand over the last few years. I intend to hang on to it too. Releasing some music under the Elastic Witch label is one plan. I’ll also occasionally run the odd event here and there every time I get the notion and it makes sense to do so. I started the shop, slap-bang in the middle of a recession, at a time when physical music sales were declining rapidly but I somehow managed to make it work. I’m pretty proud of what I achieved in this time. If I made this work against the odds once then I’m pretty sure I can do it again sometime in the future when I have more time on my hands. Who knows? - Maybe in the relatively near future I’ll re-open in a different capacity. Time will tell.

I guess now would be a good time to show some gratitude to all of the folks who helped me out along the way. Trevor O’Shea, Eoin Cregan and all the Bodytonic and Twisted Pepper crew have been amazing. I feel like I’m part of that family and I’m genuinely going to miss working with these guys. Big shout out to Dave and Julie from Road Records too. They were my mentors and I’m forever grateful for the help they gave me at the start. Special thanks also to Claude Vella from PIAS Ireland, Cillian McDonnell, Niall Byrne, Nay McCardle, Daniel Gray and all of the journalists, musicians, bloggers and media folks, labels, promoters, who helped spread the word at the start and continued to spread the word throughout. I couldn’t have done it without you! Thanks to all the artists and DJs who have played shows for us too. Too many to name individually. You know who you are! Massive love to Mr Peter Symes who has been my right hand man and captain of the ship throughout the whole voyage. Also to Benni Johnston who has been a constant source of encouragement during the stressful times and source of good vibes during the good times. Love you all.

If said this before and I’ll say it again. Massive, massive thanks to YOU! The customer. Regardless of whether you were a regular or occasional visitor, you are what made Elastic Witch what it was. I will miss you all a lot. Like I say, I hope to see you in the near future in some other capacity. Remember that there are a good few record shops left. Continue to support them. They are doing a good service. You would miss them if they weren’t here.

The shop’s last day is going to be the upcoming Record Store Day. Saturday, April 19th. We won’t be getting any ‘special’ stock in for the day. It makes zero sense for us to do so. I’ve lost a bit of enthusiasm for Record Store Day to be really honest. I feel that the original intentions have been somewhat hijacked. Don’t get me wrong. I still think that there is a good side to it too but I can’t help feeling slightly cynical about how the whole thing has evolved. Perhaps now is is not the place to get into my feelings about RSD but April 19th will be all about a celebration of this chapter of our little shop and not the commercial side of it. We’ll be letting you know who’s playing at the event over the coming days. I would love to see some of you coming along to help us celebrate. We still have a lot of stock to get rid of too!

Anyway. I guess this is it for now. Hopefully see some of you in the shop over the next couple of weeks and especially on the 19th.

Farewell but not goodbye…..

Big love.

Gib Cassidy
Elastic Witch.

 

[Kermit McDermott]

Had a feeling something was up. Not as many updates on the site ect..

 

[pete]

a shame, but sounds like he's happy with his decision so fair play and all that.

 

[rettucs]

hes also in a HELLUVA band and I reckon hes gonna be very busy with them

 

[ann post]

tough choice of day jobs to give up

which is nice

 

[travispickle]

Was there a couple of weeks ago. Sorry to hear but glad for Gib that he has other, more tasty fish to fry. Will be stopping by on RSD.

 

[sleepy]

Aye, glad it's not all doom and gloom for him

 

[hermie]

Was there a couple of weeks ago. Sorry to hear but glad for Gib that he has other, more tasty fish to fry. Will be stopping by on RSD.

seconded

 

[Scientician 0.8]

Better close on a high than have a horrendous withering death like a certain bookshop I am intimate with.

 

[Ivytheterrible]

aww I am sorry to hear this news All the very best in whatever you do next Gib! I'm sure it'll be awesome

 

[Kermit McDermott]

Was there a couple of weeks ago. Sorry to hear but glad for Gib that he has other, more tasty fish to fry. Will be stopping by on RSD.

He's opening a chipper.

 

[sleepy]

Better close on a high than have a horrendous withering death like a certain bookshop I am intimate with.

Is that Chapters? Are they in the middle of a withering death?

 

[Scientician 0.8]

Is that Chapters? Are they in the middle of a withering death?

No, mineses.

 

[sleepy]

No, mineses.

Ah right, sorry about that.

 

[travispickle]

He's opening a chipper.

I'll be first in the queue for a one and one.

 

[Kermit McDermott]

I'm going miss elastic witch. It got me back into listening to newer music.