MANAYUNK

Originally Published in Manayunk.com Magazine

By Leo Dillinger

Photography By Alexa Nahas (alexanahas.com)

By the latter half of the 20^th century, record stores and bookstores could be found in practically any neighborhood. Located next to the soda shop or the five and dime, these stores served as social centers for the community. Convenient enough to walk to, customers would wander aimlessly among bookshelves or record bins and converse with the clerk over the latest recommendations. Employee-customer rapport became something more important than a monetary exchange as relationships rooted in mutual interest flourished.

Unfortunately, this camaraderie got lost in the shuffle of the Digital Age. Many independent stores closed their doors after failing to compete with the online market, many of which were record stores and bookstores.

But Manayunk residents saw the aesthetic value of having these institutions in their community and supported local business during such tribulations. Both Main Street Music and The Spiral Bookcase maintain an iconic image of Main Street, USA by catering to niche markets with an emphasis on customer engagement. They give Manayunk a certain je ne sais quoi that chain stores can’t compete with and close-knit communities desire.

Pat Feeney, owner of Main Street Music, has always been a self-proclaimed record fanatic. In his youth, he loved spending whatever disposable income he had on the latest LPs. After moving to Philadelphia from the Pittsburgh area, he became a frequent visitor to a record store in the Northeast called the Record Cellar. Pat became such a regular that he befriended the owner and was offered a job in 1984. At the time, Pat’s wife feared her husband would be “playing with records all day,” but he knew this was a business to feel passionate about. After spending six years working at the Record Cellar, Pat finally understood the business and realized he wanted to venture out on his own.

“We looked at a lot of different locations,” Pat said. “But there was something about [Manayunk] that I just had a good feeling about.”

The original Main Street Music opened on October 24, 1991. The store was a tiny hole in the wall that Pat compared to “working out of a closet,” but he began establishing a name for himself and his business. As the district expanded, so did Main Street Music and after five years at the original location (now a part of Taqueria Feliz), Pat relocated to 4444 Main Street and officially reopened the shop on January 6, 1997.

“When we first moved here, I was worried because it was at the end of the street,” Pat said. “But the first year or two we were here, we had so many people coming in asking how long we had been here…So the new location helped a lot and now I’m not going anywhere.”

As the craze of illegally downloading music ensued in the early 2000s, Main Street Music felt the backlash. The industry made a dramatic change and Pat needed a way for his business to stay afloat. If not for the steadfast allegiance of his regulars, Pat’s story might have ended then and there. But as the storms of change subsided, a music trend from the past emerged from dusty attics, closets, and crawlspaces. Among Baby Boomers and Millennials alike, the last five years have seen the epic resurgence of vinyl.

For a time, Pat said Main Street Music’s inventory comprised roughly 80% CDs and 20% vinyl. Now, he believes the ratio may have finally shifted this year to 60% vinyl and 40% CDs. But now that music has become more convenient than ever before, why return to such a nostalgic form of listening?

“I think it has to do with the original reasons, you know?” Pat elaborated. “It’s something to own. It’s a piece of art. I do think they sound better. I always have because they do sound warmer.” 

Pat acknowledged the possibility of a “hipster quotient” where younger customers see their record collections more as a form of cultural capital. But in any case, this vinyl revival is “breathing a new shot of life” into Main Street Music and Pat said he never saw it coming. Even some of his longtime regulars have switched to purchasing only vinyl, just like every new face that drops by the store.

“[Manayunk] has become hipper lately,” Pat said. “It’s helping us because hipsters are buying vinyl and that might be some of our new customers.”

It’s safe to say that no matter how stressful the job may be, Pat hardly views Main Street Music as work. From the posters lining the walls to the soundtrack of the shop, every aspect is meticulously crafted to reflect Pat’s eclectic musical taste. More importantly, his customers have also become some of his closest friends, to the point where it’s hard to decipher his work life from his social life.

“I think it’s kind of cool that my livelihood is supplied by my first love,” Pat concluded, reclining in his chair. “The fact that I could actually make a living off of what my hobby was, which was buying records, I think I count my blessings for that.”

Pat Feeney isn’t the only one in the district doing what he loves. In fact, Main Street Music formed a bond with another Manayunk business that thrives on a similar clientele. The Spiral Bookcase has worked with Main Street Music from cohosting events to trading employees. Both stores have become so close that Pat said it’s a shame they aren’t right next door to each other.

Now that The Spiral Bookcase approaches its fifth anniversary, owner Ann Tetreault has taken a great deal of pride in establishing an independent bookstore in the community she calls home.

“It was kind of a childhood dream. I loved used bookstores growing up,” Ann said. “My parents always took me to independent bookstores and used bookstores on our travels. I felt very at home in that environment.”

Prior to opening The Spiral Bookcase, Ann served as a copyright specialist at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C., where she worked alongside numerous publishers, authors, and other “creative types.” Ann knew she wanted to continue her passion for literature by opening a bookstore of her own in Philadelphia.

When she and her husband began looking at houses in Manayunk, Ann immediately fell in love with the neighborhood, reminding her of when she lived in Cork, Ireland for a year. The couple also loved the idea of living in a neighborhood with a record store. After finally settling in Manayunk, Ann eventually came across an available space on Cotton Street.

“Just peeking through the window, I remember my excitement like ‘Wow, it’s perfect! It will be so easy to move in and reimagine it as a bookstore,’” Ann said.

In January 2010, Ann began planning the bookstore and after months of renovations, she opened The Spiral Bookcase on July 17, 2010. By November 2010, she ended her job in D.C., committing her full time and attention to the bookstore.

The benefit to starting her business during the “Great Recession” was Ann’s foresight in assessing the changes of the literary industry. She found that local bookstores were on the rise again because they helped neighborhoods thrive aesthetically and promote a greater sense of community. And now, she’s been told that the Spiral Bookcase was a deciding factor for new residents moving to Manayunk.

“The people who spend their money here or the people that come to our events, the people who trade books with us, they acknowledge that shopping local is something important in that they are leaving a lasting impression on the community,” Ann said.

This sense of community has always been the focal point of Ann’s business. She promotes the works of her favorite authors from the Philadelphia literary scene like Andrew Ervin and Robin Black.  She orchestrates events both in and outside the store like her upcoming Alice in Wonderland Tea Party at Pretzel Park, the Author Brunch in September, and the most exciting of all: The Spiral Bookcase’s fifth anniversary in July.

Even the metaphor behind “The Spiral Bookcase” shows how heavily invested Ann is in the Manayunk community. As Ann says, her husband is very math and science oriented and the ‘Golden Mean’ is very spiral in nature. Ann on the other hand really likes mythology and the literary life.

“The spiral is in Celtic mythology and Native American mythology, so it’s kind of a coming together of our backgrounds to create one space,” Ann said.  “It’s supposed to mean the inclusion of people from a lot of different backgrounds and a place to gather together.”

Perhaps the greatest appeal of both the Spiral Bookcase and Main Street Music is how their employees guide customers to expand their literary and musical tastes. As Ann puts it, she likes to help her customers “find the book that you weren’t looking for but that you need to have.”

And it’s this give-and-take relationship between employees and customers that both Ann and Pat admire so much about their stores. It gives them both an indescribable feeling that they affected someone by inspiring them to read again or listen to a record they’ve never heard before. Sometimes it’s just a simple recommendation, but it could be as huge as turning someone on to a new favorite author or band.

“From my youth and growing up, I always pictured the bookstore as the cornerstone for any vibrant Main Street community,” Ann said. “And I like to think that we do have a hand in that.”