GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – The end is near for the legendary The Exclusive Company record store in downtown Green Bay.
A phrase – an ad – recited by just about anyone who grew up in eastern Wisconsin, “Say It With Me!” It was an iconic sounding call for a record shop unlike any other.
Tom Smith is the manager at the Exclusive Company location in the Broadway District. He’s been working there for 33 years.
“This building has had such a music history for a long, long time. It’s going to be sad to see it not as a house of music,” Smith told WTAQ News.
The company showed up exclusively as Mr. G – James Giombetti – opened up shop in West Bend in 1956.
“Mr. Giombetti just had this vision and this passion and determination to build America’s best full line independent record chain,” Smith said. “He was the best record store owner to work for because he’s 100 percent behind us on stocking the stores how we wanted to, and I think that’s why people like the exclusive company. They all have their own complexion, their pros and cons, and that was because of Mr. G.”
Smith says while Mr. G was a supportive owner, there were definitely rules about what was acceptable at the Exclusive Company.
“He gave all the stores the autonomy to stock what we wanted, what we felt was appropriate for our market, or even stuff that we think we should try in our market,” Smith said. “He was like a father figure at times, you don’t want him angry at you!”
The building itself has a long history of music, serving as the Pipe Dreams record shop before Giombetti took over.
“This building has a lot of history. We’ve had a lot of in-store [visits], like Ozzy [Osbourne] was here, Cheap Trick, the Violent Femmes came when it was still Pipe Dreams,” Smith recalled.
Lately, record sales seem to be on the rise. But Smith says the industry is struggling to keep up with demand.
“I hate to say it, but the record industry has always been the biggest detriment to the record industry. Like it’s its own worst enemy,” Smith said. “Last Christmas, parents to come in with their lists of what they wanted for their children or other family members or friends, and they’d hand me list. I’d have to say ‘I’m sorry, that one we’ve been out for 6 months, or that one here is 9 months out, this one’s been a year’…It’s because the record companies just can’t keep what’s in demand, in supply. They sure would help all the record stores if they just built some more pressing plants.”
But incredibly, the industry and the stores survive. Even through a pandemic. But the passing of the local record king, Mr. G, seemed to be the tipping point.
“Our participation in it will be wrapping up,” Smith said. “We’re goners, as they say. It’s all she wrote. It’s a wrap!”
But as music and record sales survive, so do the enthusiasts. In fact, they seem to be multiplying.
Mike Mckeough remembers going to the record shop in Green Bay even before Mr. G took over.
“I’ve been coming here since it was Pipe Dreams, and that was ’60? ’70? I’m 67 now, so 50 years…It’s been part of Green Bay for 50, 60 years – the store itself,” Mckeough said. “I just enjoy music. Can’t play an instrument, but I just enjoy listening to it. And in this store here, you get everything…I just love the store I could stay here all day just listen the music they play…I think they’re going to miss a lot of it. Just looking around in here, you see the younger kids – so it’s nice to see the younger generations started coming here and everything like that too – and all of a sudden, they’re not gonna have any place to go to now.”
One of those young people was Sam Kalies. We found him flipping through vinyls, waiting for something to catch his eye.
Customers search through stacks of vinyl records at The Exclusive Company. (IMAGE: WTAQ News)
He might be in his mid-twenties, but for Sam and his friends, the Exclusive Company has been home for years.
“I was probably like 15 or so, so about 10 years ago. And I’ve lived in Green Bay my whole life, so I’ve been coming here often, like a couple times a month probably,” Kalies said. “I feel like they have a really great selection, and it’s been a cool way to find some smaller indie artists and some things you wouldn’t see in bigger retail stores…It helps me connect with the the city. I’ve brought a lot of friends here and we connect over music, and we often have a lot of conversations and share stuff that we find here. So there’s a community aspect of it, for sure.”
That community, young and old, still seems to be working to grasp the news that The Exclusive Company won’t be around much longer.
“Well the way I heard about it was from my nieces and nephews. It shocked me at first. They’d always ask if it’s closing, and I’d say I have no idea, but I sure hope not. I’m just sad it’s closing,” Mckeough added. “I’ll miss the place when it’s gone.”
“It was pretty shocking! I found out really early this morning, and it kind of set a somber tone for the day,” Kalies said. “I love this place and I’ll miss it.”
That tone, prompting Kalies to rock an Exclusive Company-branded shirt during what was surely not his final stop in the store. But even with a few more stops between now and the end, he’s still trying to figure out one thing.
“Sadness, loss…and thinking about where I’ll get my records from now on,” Kalies said.
No matter where that will be – Mckeough says it simply won’t be the same.
They’re not as knowledgeable as Tom and his crew here. You can ask them for something, they know exactly what you mean and where it is, and go get it for you. In those big stores, you can stand there for hours and not get any service,” Mckeough said.
The Green Bay location is expected to officially close sometime in July. Others are set to close by the end of July. They will still take part in National Record Store Day on April 23rd with special deals.
The shop in Milwaukee will live on as a record shop under a new name, Lilliput Records. Smith says they’re even buying the building. He thinks that will go well, and admits he’s already special-ordered some things from that shop.
The original shop in West Bend will also survive as a record shop. Long time customers bought the inventory and fixtures, and kept the manager and staff on. That’ll be known as The Beat Goes On and More Records.
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