Portland's Music MainstayPortland's vinyl Valhalla

ON A CORNER of East Burnside Street, Music Millennium has been keeping the faith and selling vinyl records to Portland music lovers for more than five decades.

Owner Terry Currier has been there for the last thirty-seven of those fifty-plus years. And contrary to popular belief, his time at Millennium hasn't been all doom and gloom, even as record stores across the country have closed in the face of competition from big box chains, digital downloads and online streaming services.

"Record stores are in better shape now than they were ten years ago," Currier said. "There's going to be vinyl customers in the future. It's still not a completely easy road, but we have a little breathing space now."

Don MacLeod, his wife, Loreen, and his brother-in-law Dan Lissy opened the store in 1969, in 800 square feet of space that now houses part of Millennium's vinyl section. The shop claims to be the oldest existing record store in the Pacific Northwest, but it didn't get where it is today without a lot of creative ideas, some trial and error, and a little luck. The MacLeods sold the business in 1979, but took it back over in 1984 before the new owners could shut it down. Around that time, Currier showed up, looking for a job to help support his insatiable appetite for vinyl.

In 1989, Currier, now the owner, built a permanent stage and sound system to host live performances, which now number between 100 and 150 annually. In 1995, he started the Coalition of Independent Music Stores, which, in 2007, helped create Record Store Day, an annual celebration of record shops that brings in throngs of vinyl lovers and always generates valuable press.

"The media had painted a picture that record stores were going away and there weren't going to be any more record stores in America," Currier said. "We're able to say, 'Wait a minute! There are 1,800 of us still out here.' And the public went, 'Oh wow, there's still record stores and there's still records.'"

Sales of new vinyl, once a tiny fraction of the business at Music Millennium, now make up more than half of total sales, Currier said.

"The best thing about record stores right now is the same as the best thing about record stores fifty years ago---they're selling vinyl again, which is the best listening format for the warmth and quality of sound," he said. "Record stores are little community centers again, like they used to be. ... When you go to a good record store, it's an experience."