It’s a music lover’s utopia – wasting time in a vintage record store, shuffling through the vinyl and discussing obscurities with the nerdy yet trendy intellectual shop owner.

It’s a personable experience – a way to expand knowledge – the depot of all things music and the hotbed for struggling artists.

It’s also a nonexistent concept in Ames.

As a college town, it is puzzling that a record business has not been able to maintain itself in the burrows of Welch Avenue.

Is it a lack of money? An increase in music downloading? The wrong demographics to appeal to? Or rather just the sheer lack of interest?

“Certainly I think downloading is part of it, but I think certainly money is an issue,” says Nate Niceswanger, owner of Zzz Records, 424 E. Locust St., Des Moines.

“If you go to any given store, a lot of times brand-new CDs are going to be $15, sometimes more, and that really cuts into your pocketbook after awhile.”

The lack of money, however, isn’t the only factor, Niceswanger says.

“The other thing is that traditionally Iowa State has more of an agriculture background; they’re getting a lot more rural kids,” he says.

Niceswanger, who grew up in northwest Iowa, says there is a big difference between the student population of Iowa State and that of the University of Iowa, for example, which gets more urban students from cities such as Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City.

“You’ve got completely different backgrounds coming in,” he says. “A lot of times the mostly rural population that’s going to a school like Iowa State might be into kind of a different kind of music than what students at Iowa would be.”

A record store hasn’t always been absent in Ames. In 2000, Welch Avenue was occupied by Peeples Music. The store, however, was forced to close.

“The students turned their back on the business because they download and steal music,” says Mike Enloe, owner of Peeples Music, 4201 University Ave. in Des Moines. “My store was doing great until Napster came along in 2000. It took exactly two years for Napster to close my store.”

Enloe claims the Internet is the culprit in his store’s closing.

“We went from $1,500 a day average to $200 a day average over the course of two years, from 2000 to 2002,” he says. “Thank God our lease was up, that’s all I could say in 2002.”

The chances of keeping a record store running in Ames are slim, Enloe says.

“I would never try it again,” he says. “I don’t think anybody in their right mind would go up there and start a record store, to tell you the truth.”

Assessing the need

Ames is literally crawling with independent bands, most of whom would like to get their music into as many hands as possible. But is there an outlet?

Tim Olson, sophomore in economics and bassist for DJ Dad/MC Mom, says his band would have a higher success rate getting its music into an independent record store rather than a large chain store. He says, however, there is a lack of interest in Ames, which is likely because of the city’s demographics.

Sam Summers, senior in economics and founder of First Fleet Concerts, is a little more optimistic.

He says Ames is capable of supporting a record store. Based on his analysis of ticket sales from the shows he has dealt with, Summers says there has been an increased amount of interest in music from Ames.

“In the last year and a half, it’s just gone up,” he says. “I think [a record store] would be something that would be supported right now.”

Summers also notes there are certain types of people who care to buy music from independently owned record shops.

“I think a lot of the kids that are in to the independent music … they want to buy the CDs and get the liner notes,” he says. “I think that is one of the reasons that you can make an independent music store, because the fans are always going to buy the CDs. These people are really album-oriented.”

A struggle to survive

If Ames cannot support a store, however, where do people go to satisfy their eclectic tastes? Des Moines has only two independent record stores – Zzz Records and Peeples Music, and one of those is facing a crisis.

Zzz, which opened in 2000, is in danger of closing. Although Niceswanger says business has been good, city leaders are threatening the shop, which rests in Des Moines’ East Village. Businesses in the area that have failed to make improvements to their property are in danger of the U.S. Supreme Court-granted power of eminent domain. Zzz is one of these.

“I think what is happening now is some of the big-shot developers down here who didn’t even know this area existed a couple of years ago, have been reading the papers, they’re getting all excited and they’re thinking, ‘Oh, here’s a chance for us to make some money.’ So they’re trying to come in and gobble up property,” Niceswanger says.

Enloe, Peeples’ owner, says he’d act different if stuck in Niceswanger’s position.

“I saw the price that they were offering the guy and if it was me, I would have taken it and run,” he says. “I wouldn’t have given a shit because they’re offering him $300,000 more than the property is worth.”

The city’s threat conflicts with its vision for the East Village. Wanting to appeal to a younger and hipper crowd and hold a “big city” feel, Enloe says it seems an independent record store would fit perfectly into the scene.

“I don’t think they like the type of people that he brings out,” Enloe says. “They’re not the young people with lots of money that will go down there and drink in the bars and have their little pinky out when they’re sipping their tea.”

If Zzz Records closes, Des Moines is down to one independent record store. Going on 30 years of business, Peeples Music will stay around as long as it can, Enloe says. Business, however, hasn’t been the best.

“It’s definitely not the most lucrative business in the world to be in right now,” he says.

Enloe says he sees this as a nation-wide trend.

“Every store in America has got the same lows as I’ve got,” he says.

Niceswanger, however, says business has been steady.

“No one gets rich selling records anymore,” he says. “So I’m not going to retire off of this job or anything, but it’s been good and annual sales have actually increased every year for the five years I have been in business, so I really can’t complain.”

Enloe says he’s been “starving for five years,” because his customers and cash flow have dwindled. His outlook on the situation, however, is to think of the downfall as starting all over again.

“I’m trying and as long as I’m doing this, I’m going to keep doing this,” he said.