Underground Sounds will close after 28 years in business. Owner Craig Rich has announced that his record store at 1006 Barret Ave. in the Germantown neighborhood will vacate the space at the end of April.
Rich told Louisville Business First that he is closing Underground Sounds because the property owner, Almost Diamond, has declined to renew his lease. When Almost Diamond purchased the property for $506,500 in April 2022, they let Rich know that they were planning to open a tequila bar there.
Rich opened Underground Sounds in a retail space at 2003 Highland Ave. in 1995. As many independent record stores have experienced since the turn of the millennium, he says listening habits have changed and it has affected business. Digital downloads and streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music have diminished sales of physical media.
Rich has not yet decided if he will relocate Underground Sounds to what would be its third location in three decades or close it permanently. The presence of this longstanding destination for music lovers in Louisville would certainly be missed.
This article appears in Mar 13-27, 2024.
