Function Junction record store Dirty Beats has closed its doors, a victim of a slow winter season and the growing practice of purchasing music online.
The tiny second-floor outlet owned and operated by Whistler resident Lindsay Phillips served the local DJ community by stocking underground nightclub music genres such as breakbeats, hip-hop and drum ’n’ bass on vinyl.
Dirty Beats was launched in November 2003 out of the ashes of Vinyl Lab, another Function Junction record store that was a satellite outlet for a Vancouver store of the same name.
With its inconspicuous Function Junction location, Dirty Beats was destined to be a local-knowledge enterprise from the get-go, although Phillips said there were significant tourist-based sales during the 2003-04 winter season.
She estimates she sold approximately half as many records during the 2004-05 season.
"With the winter we had, people just didn’t have any money," she said.
Frustrated by the inability to move stock and the next-to-no markup on vinyl, Phillips said she’s done selling records. However, she emphasized, the Dirty Beats name will live on. Phillips will continue to organize Dirty Beats club nights and events in Whistler and has plans to start a DJ agency to promote local talent under the Dirty Beats moniker. She is aiming to relaunch her website – www.dirtybeats.ca – in August.
In the upcoming weeks Phillips is liquidating the Dirty Beats stock on the local scene before carting whatever’s left down to record stores in Vancouver.
The store is officially closed but potential buyers can arrange an appointment with Phillips by calling 604-966-4390.
