Schoolkids Records officially closes Chapel Hill location after 50 years

On Saturday, the Chapel Hill community was forced to say its final goodbye to the local record store favorite, Schoolkids Records. Schoolkids announced it would be closing in August due to financial constraints, and since then, the community has slowly grieved the former shop. 

The exact date of Schoolkids Records’ opening is uncertain, but current owner Stephen Judge estimated that both the Chapel Hill and Raleigh locations opened around 1974. 

Although Judge is originally from Rocky Mount, he said that he would regularly attend UNC basketball games during his childhood, and would visit Schoolkids Records in Chapel Hill on these occasions. Later, Judge started working at Schoolkids’ Raleigh location in 1990 while attending N.C. State University. 

This is not the first year that the Chapel Hill Schoolkids Records store has closed down; in 2008, the previous owner closed the store, which at that time was located on East Franklin Street where Bank of America is now located. 

Judge had talked to the previous owner about buying the store when it closed in 2008, but decided not to take the risk, especially given the ongoing recession at the time. In 2012, he decided to buy Schoolkids in Chapel Hill and subsequently bought Schoolkids Records’ Raleigh location in 2016. 

“I always kept my eye on coming back to Chapel Hill, because it meant a lot to me personally,” Judge said. 

Throughout its storied history, the record store, which is also a record label, has been a vital part of Chapel Hill's music scene. 

Before closing, the record label updated the website weekly with the latest record pieces and held regular concert ticket giveaways.  

While vinyl records are still loved by avid collectors and individual artists’ fanbases, the small percentage of people still purchasing vinyls makes it challenging for analog music shops, like Schoolkids, to compete in an environment filled with major labels selling expensive records. 

“I’m really bummed out because they’re the closest store, and I have access to that only, and because it's gone now, I don't know where to get the records now,” Jiyoon Moon, a sophomore majoring in data science and economics who also collects vinyls, said. “But I didn't know that they were closing, so I guess I should visit them before winter break.” 

Franklin Street has gone through many changes over the past few years, with multiple local stores shutting down, replaced by franchised businesses, such as Raising Cane’s and Starbucks. Eun-Suh Jo, a sophomore majoring in public policy and advertisement and public relations, said she was sad to see places being closed after years of operating. 

“The same thing happened to Ye Olde Waffle House, which was a really big waffle place that me and my family went to,” Jo said. "And all these areas in Franklin that I grew up experiencing are now leaving and Schoolkids records was kind of the place that I discovered in college and now it's leaving as well, right when I feel like I just started."

The Triangle area has been growing with the increase in real estate rates due to inflation and post pandemic economies, leading to everyone spending more money but making less, said Judge. 

Judge also said vinyl record prices have gone up $10 in the last year. The prices were already budget breaking before the climb and are now far over the bearable price. 

“To maintain a small business in a small town, you rely on too many other resources to sort of keep it going, but the community is there,” Judge said. "It's just, the financial aspects of it don't make sense."

Schoolkids Records provided a space for Chapel Hill students to strengthen relationships with peers who have the same passion for records. Jo does not collect vinyl records but said that she enjoys the time she spends at Schoolkids with her friends that did visit the store often. 

Record lovers can continue to support Schoolkids Records at the Raleigh location, which will continue to operate.

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