Author Archives: Tim Thornton

My first experience at Music Saves is probably a pretty common one. Sometime in 2004 I went to a show with some friends at The Beachland Ballroom. After the show was over, we were walking back to the car and lo and behold there was a new record store on the block! I won’t lie, I had a drink or two in me, so i INSISTED we stop in. I proceeded to pretty much freak out, as my old favorite local shop (My Generation in Westlake) had recently closed and I didn’t really have a place I loved to go to in town. This was the place. That night, I think maybe I bought one thing for myself, but dropped forty or fifty dollars on music for my friends… essential stuff I thought they really needed to hear. That story has stuck with me, as that whole “your life would be better if you heard this record” attitude is key to Music Saves, right down to the store’s name. I’ve been a regular at the store since then… and in the spirit of full disclosure, I’m even under their employ from time to time.

Since summer 2004, Music Saves has had their spot on Waterloo Road in the Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland, owned by Melanie Hershberger and Kevin Neudecker. They specialize in independent music of all stripes, mostly records released in the last 20 years, however, their used/vintage section seems to be growing daily. They carry most titles on vinyl and CD, with a great selection of other music-related products including clothing, jewelry, DVDs, magazines, and much more I’m sure I’m forgetting. This past week, I had a chance to ask Melanie a few questions about the store.

Was there an archetype store for Music Saves? Several years ago when I was entertaining the idea of opening my own store, I always thought something like “Take the music selection of store X, add the atmosphere of store Y, then add my own element Z.” Is there somewhere out there that we’d see some of Music Saves in?

I think we cherry-picked a lot of elements from other stores, but they were usually minute details. I don’t know if there was one major influence. We always wanted to have a warm and inviting place that we would want to shop in. You probably see elements of the stores we spent the most time at… My Generation, Finders and Mad Hatter in Bowling Green, and Sound Garden in Syracuse, NY. I think we’ve also been shaped to some degree by our friendships with the wonderful people at My Mind’s Eye and Square Records. Additionally, we had a running list of things we didn’t want our store to be or have: snobby and mean record store clerks, racks that were hard to navigate or browse through, a store that wasn’t involved in the community… in some ways, the DON’T DO THIS list might have outnumbered the DO THIS list!

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If you would have told me two years ago that there was a phenomenal vintage record shop right in the middle of my stomping grounds on the near west side of Cleveland, I would have made several guesses about which store you were talking about and all of them would be wrong. I had no idea Hodad’s existed until about a year and a half ago when a friend told me about some obscure northern soul 45s he had picked up there.

At first, I was confused about the nature of this store. I was sure it had to be a new place, I thought I knew every store in town! As it turns out, I must have been under a rock between 2003 and 2009, Hodad’s has been there the whole time. Earlier this week, I exchanged a few emails with Jon Mack, owner of Hodad’s, so he could tell us a little bit more about his shop.

In the few times I’ve been to Hodad’s since being tipped off to its existence last year, the term “best kept secret” comes to mind every time I stop in. Are you comfortable with people thinking of your store that way, or would you rather be the go-to place for all things vinyl in the Cleveland area?

One of the things about this store is that it hasn’t been open for full-time hours since 2004. We finally went back to full-time hours in September of last year. In the previous 6 years I decided to work from home and take care of my daughter and work in the store in the evenings. It was grueling at times, but made it all worth it.

The reason why I mention this is there are still people discovering the store now even in our 8th year of existence. I simply think the part-time hours and lack of advertising and such has made it like we’ve only been open 3 or 4 years as opposed to 8. In other words, some people are new or new customers and therefore it might be looked upon as a place that many aren’t aware of or a “best kept secret.” However, we have had many regulars who have shopped at the store since it first opened back on 2003.

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