Man, what a shame. Just got this official release from John Nova Lomax at the Houston Press. Dear music industry friend, It is with great regret that I must inform you that Cactus will be closing on March 31st 2006. Each January we are at our lowest stock level of the year, following our strong holiday sales. It is at this point that it is easiest and most advantageous for a retailer to wind down operations. Our landlord feels that they will be able to lease our space quickly. More importantly, our owners and bookkeeper are keen to retire and are taking this opportunity to do so. During my almost twenty years as a Cactus employee I have seen many changes. We rebuilt Cactus from a small, unprofitable retail chain in the mid-1980’s to one of the best single storefront music retailers in the country during the 1990’s. We have endured many hardships, including the disastrous flooding of our store during Tropical Storm Allison, a bitter three-month battle over our historic sign and, most recently, the devastating effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on the local economy. All of this in addition to high list prices, the decline of the CD, file sharing, downloading, CD burning, predatory pricing from big-box retailers, and the decline of video rental. We adapted, continually making adjustments to offset the downgrade in sales including trimming payroll, cutting positions and reducing inventory while embracing new products and practices. We are proud to have overcome the adversity of our industry, establishing Cactus as a Houston landmark over the last 30 years. We appreciate your understanding for how difficult it can be for an independent music store. Thank you for looking out for us and for your efforts which established us as the “go-to” store in the Houston market. Over the years we could not have achieved such heights without the supportive, creative, forward-thinking and dedicated label/ distribution representatives who handled our account. I feel extremely fortunate to have met so many extraordinary people who love music. We hope that you understand what a difficult decision this was for us to make. Retirement is an issue that all family businesses must wrestle with and Cactus is no exception. Today, we contacted the credit managers with your company. It is our intention to resolve our payment issues quickly. Don’t hesitate to speak with me directly if I can answer any questions for you. Quinn Bishop General Manager
Sad, but understandible. Within 10 years, there won't be any record, or video stores left. It will all be downloaded.
This blows. I don't do it that much anymore, but I still enjoy being able to go to a real music store and browse the selections before buying.
You'll always have Walmart. (as long as you music taste is the same as that of the Walmart buying reps )
I was pretty upset with CD Wherehouse closing down and now this Good place to go for your traditional music/CD/tape store.
The end of an era. Somebody better step up for instore appearances by bands now! I had a blast when the Holdouts did ours a couple of years ago. Jeff, I'm sure you enjoyed y'alls a couple of weeks ago. Crap, I'm depressed now....
That bites!!!! I loved Cactus. Seems like there are more and more reasons I'm glad I don't live in Houston anymore (and why I'm not likely to come back).
R.I.P. Cactus... Things I will miss about Cactus: Video department Used CD's Live in-store music Things I will not miss about Cactus: Cocky employees who think they know more than you Their poor customer service Overpriced, new CD's
Just one less place for local bands to sell their stuff and one less place for locals to find music by other locals. Sigh.
