i was talking a bit about record stores - specifically about the unique pleasure of finding a faux pas cd in a second-hand store for the first time - well i have to thank matt for pointing me towards this great interview with steve kulak, the man behind the title film and music stores (in sydney, and more recently, melbourne):

“People walk past the shop window, and they stop and then move, and then they stop again. They see an erotic book cover, and a Woody Guthrie thing, but then they see Bob Dylan, and then they see ‘El Topo’ and they say ‘Wait a minute’. The curiosity gets them in. Most people come in and don’t understand anything that’s there, but they’re willing to take a risk, a gamble - because there’s this edifice, this building, that represents a physical belief in taking that risk. They make a purchase … on hope.”

“So it’s a store for optimists?” I ask.

“Absolutely.”

read the whole thing.