Record Shop Leaves Farmingdale

, a longtime staple in is leaving after nearly 40 years on Main Street.

Store owners Steve and Vicki Blitenthal are taking their records, 45s and CDs and will selling them exclusively through their website.

Whirlin Disc started when Steve began selling records out of his home in Brooklyn. After he and Vicki got married they decided to move to a store in Farmingdale because there were no other record stores in the area and the walking traffic seemed ideal.

Steve said that the popularity of country music and Elvis really helped Whirlin Disc and made them popular in the area. Steve and Vicki started getting mail orders and once computers were invented, they received online orders as well.

But wouldn’t stay booming forever.

“Once the economy started tanking it made it difficult,” said Vicki. “Plus the fact that people were on the computers which doesn’t help.”

The Blitenthal’s noticed that even though their niche audience were older and not as technologically savvy, the younger generation was downloading the music for their parents and grandparents. The said their main demographic had been those people born before World War II up until the baby boomer era, who now are either retired or on a fixed income, so they don't have disposable income.

“To have a brick and water store just isn’t cutting it like it used to,” said Vicki. “At night, Farmigdale is a hopping place, but during the day it's quiet. We don’t have that walking traffic anymore."

Steve and Vicki said they are confident people still have a passion for collecting music, so even though they are closing the store, that doesn’t mean they are ready to close their business.

“For us, it's just as easy for us to say 'let's just do it online,'” said Steve.

Will you miss Whirlin Disc? Tell us in the comments.