Sopris Sun THE
VOLUME 1, NUMBER 12 • APRIL 30, 2009
Sounds Easy owner Staci Dickerson is calling it quits after 26 years in business. If the independent movie store isn’t sold to a new owner, Dickerson will start liquidating before the end of the month. Photo by Trina Ortega
at’s a wrap Sounds Easy to close after 26 years as Carbondale’s ‘great video store’ By Trina Ortega
T
he marketing plan was simple. It was Mountain Fair weekend 1983, and the two young entrepreneurs printed fliers announcing the grand opening of the new Sounds Easy Video Store on Main Street. They placed the fliers on car windshields. It was cheap and simple but it got the word out. And business took off. Now, 26 years later, Sounds Easy owner Staci Dickerson will be closing the small independent shop known for its variety of movie titles, including rare and foreign films. Dickerson said life has “come full circle” and she is ready to retire from the home movie business to focus on her fine art. She intends to study at Naropa Institute in Boulder, where she lived before
moving to Carbondale 30 years ago. Her art is only one part of what she called the “perfect storm” prompting her to close Sounds Easy. For the first quarter of 2009, business was down 25 percent; the shop has suffered a handful of breakins recently; and Dickerson’s father passed away last month. Dickerson had remained hopeful through December when sales remained “flat.” She thought she’d weathered the current recession, but with her slowest months upon her, she said she believes her wave has rolled in. “It’s a hard decision. I have always said I’m just gonna ride this wave, but I think the wave is coming to shore now,” she said. Dickerson survived the revolutionary format change from VHS to DVD, as well as the onset of Blockbuster Video, the mail-order ventures (such as Netflix), and today’s online subscription services. “With all of the things that have
changed over the years, people have always come back,” she said. Sounds Easy has a loyal customer base and the shop could continue to thrive, Dickerson said, but she is personally ready to get out of the director’s chair, explaining that the local DVD rental shop has become “just supplemental” to the other businesses that provide movies. “We, as consumers in this world right now, have a lot of choices. The choices we make in the privacy of our home is our responsibility,” she said. “Personal choice does matter. It’s that decision you make when you push that [purchase] button on your computer. It means that business goes someplace else.” Now customers who are not picky about a high-quality movie experience with a clear picture and crisp sound can even stream movies and TV shows over the Internet to their laptops. It is a shift that Sounds Easy customer SOUNDS EASY page 15