Summit County record store closing after 30 years in business

Kit Geary/Summit Daily News
Gary Koenig had never aspired to own his own record shop. Yet, somehow, he ended up founding and running Affordable Music in Dillon for three decades.
The former Henderson Mill employee clocked in around 15 years in the Grand County-based Molybdenum mine when a friend made a suggestion, “You like music so much, you should open a record store,” Koenig said, recalling a friend’s comment.
Koenig said he didn’t need much convincing to pull the trigger. He opened Affordable Music in Silverthorne in 1991. He went on to move his spot to a storefront in Dillon 11 years later, and it’s lived there since.
On Monday, Dec. 30, Koenig carried on his day just as he had every other for the past three decades, walking customers through where to find vinyl records for their favorite music genres and showing them around the inventory of instruments. The only difference between this day and the countless others comprising the past 30 years at Affordable Music is it was the last time he would get to do it. The music shop plans to close its door permanently Dec. 31.
As Koenig pondered the situation in the middle of his shop still lined with hundreds of records, he said the community support he has received over the years is almost palpable because it’s been so consistently present.
“The only reason I’ve been open for 33 years is because of all the support I’ve had from the community,” he said.
He said he’s had plans to close for around two years now and had intended to sell it before any major discussions began regarding potential development in Dillon. But he said navigating a lease for the store and the potential sale of the shop’s current building caused his sale plans to fall through.

Despite that, he knew he still wanted to hang up his hat.
“It dawned on me, every day I spend here is one less day I might be able to enjoy retirement,” he said.
How Koenig views it, for the past 30 years he’s only had to work one day a week, and that was on Sundays when the shop closed. For him “work” was his Sunday chores, not running the shop because for him it didn’t feel like a job.
Among his favorite memories at Affordable Music included a time when he lent The Derek Trucks band — an American blues group whose namesake is the prodigy guitarist leading it — his own van last minute so they could finish their last leg of a tour.
Locals and tourists alike wandered Affordable Music’s aisle on its second to last day as a business, and a couple of them said they were upset to see the establishment go.
Montezuma resident Jay Bussell said it always saddens him to see local music shops, especially ones which are affordable, close their doors and he hopes it’s not a trend.
“It’s a travesty, kids aren’t playing instruments. There’s not enough music and arts to begin with. This is just one step to (worsen that) and prevent kids from coming and having a good option,” he said. “This place has a lot of great entry-level guitars people could actually afford.”
Iowan and music lover Ben Ross just happened to be in Summit visiting and heard about the shop’s closing date and wanted to pay it a visit. He said it’s unique to find a “hybrid vinyl shop” where the owner is clearly a music lover. As someone who shops music, he was impressed with the prices Koenig offered and said he was sorry to see the community lose this asset.
Breckenridge-based Joe Knodel, who was also in the shop Dec. 30, said he’s seen plenty of businesses turn over in Summit County during his time as a resident, and Koenig’s 30-year run is a testament to who is he as a business owner and the product he offers the community.

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