It’s a bumpy road ahead for anyone wanting to buy independent and local music in Ames.

Since the demise of indie record store Peeple’s Music in January, and with the scheduled summer 2003 opening of Best Buy, fans and industry insiders alike are wondering why a local music store just can’t seem to survive in a seemingly ideal college music market.

“In the next five to ten years, there won’t be indie stores anymore,” says Scott Stewart, manager of the original Peeple’s Music, 4201 University Ave., Des Moines. “It’s not a level playing field anymore. You’ve got guys with huge pockets, who have huge warehouses, who can buy 100,000 copies of something when I can buy 15.”

Leverage in the music industry may play a large role in the failure of independent shops, but the larger businesses say that this kind of purchasing power is an advantage for the consumer.

“I don’t think [larger businesses drive the smaller ones out], just because there is a vast marketplace out there, and each retailer, whether it be a national one or a local one, really has their own niche,” says Jenny Bohuslavsky, spokesperson for Best Buy. “There are some products that an independent or a locally owned store might be able to offer that we don’t.”

Bohuslavsky says that Best Buy carefully analyzes its competition before ever entering a new marketplace. Each area of the country is handled by a regional media marketing manager, who is responsible for identifying and catering to any trends or local acts that may be popular in that particular area. Bohuslavsky says that this type of analysis is for the public’s benefit.

“We are adding another choice for the consumer,” Bohuslavsky says.

While Best Buy’s hierarchy may be designed to benefit the consumer, indie store owners disagree.

“The only reason they even carry CDs is as a loss leader,” Stewart says. “They sell them virtually at cost or below, and the only reason they carry them is to get you to come in and buy a CD player or a TV or a refrigerator.”

Stewart says this marketing strategy will be the end of all things local.

“Eventually, there will be no independents with deep enough pockets that can just give away their products,” Stewart says. “I can’t sell my stuff, make a dime on it, and still keep the doors open. They can, because they’ll sell you a refrigerator and make 800 bucks on you.”

While Stewart disagrees with Best Buy’s business practices, he knows what has kept independent music stores alive for so many years.

“The indie stores are what make or break a band. The bigger stores are where the `mall moms’ buy their music,” Stewart says. “People who are into music go to music stores – to talk music, to live music, to be around music. Independent stores are the ones who have been the champions of music all throughout history. It’s not the Best Buys who sold the Beatles albums – it was the independent stores.”

Nate Niceswanger, owner of Zzz Records, 424 E. Locust St., Des Moines, agrees. Niceswanger’s store has been open for two years, and specializes in rare and independent original vinyl albums. Because his store is more specialized, he has seen a lesser effect from bigger companies coming into town, but still sees the niche that larger stores simply cannot cater to.

“Just because it’s Best Buy, they’re not going to have a lot of punk bands, and they’re not going to focus as much on local stuff,” Niceswanger says. “Those are the areas where we can really excel.”

Niceswanger says that although independent and larger stores do share some of the market, he has managed to stay successful by offering products that the larger stores would never consider.

“We do share some customers, and there’s a lot of people who come in here looking for some popular rock album, but we may not even bother carrying it, because we know Best Buy’s going to carry it for $9.99, while the cheapest we can sell it for is fifteen bucks,” Niceswanger says. “We’re not going to go out there and compete with them for the new Eminem album – we’re going to feature the Flaming Lips instead, which is an album they didn’t even have in their flyer.”

Besides competition from larger companies, independent stores must compete with the Internet for business. But, just as with the general public, no one seems to agree as to whether downloaded music has been a blessing or a curse.

“We tend to feature a lot acts that you would never hear on the radio, or ever see on MTV or even MTV2,” Niceswanger says. “If one of these bands puts out some songs on their Web site for a free download, I think it’s great because it does kind of get their name out there. It’s almost like free advertising for them and for me.”

Not all independent store owners share this belief, however. Many have noticed significant losses in sales. Stewart says downloading music was a direct cause for the failure of Peeple’s in Ames.

“College kids don’t have a lot of expendable money, and if they can steal it for free, they’d much rather do that than pay a retailer for their music,” Stewart says. “Ames just isn’t a good atmosphere for an independent record store.”