Inner Sleeve Records looks at 50
The Wausonian visited Mike Capista at Inner Sleeve Records Monday on the store's 50th anniversary to get his thoughts on a half-century in business
If you walk down Scott Street and happen by Inner Sleeve Records, you’re likely to find owner Mike Capista in one of two spots — either behind a counter filled with CDs, a register and a few other items — or in a chair out front of the store.
Monday was no different, save for the addition of some balloons, a box of cookies his wife made in the shape of little records next to the counter and signs for a sale for a few bucks off some of the music on offer. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young’s new live album plays over the speakers.
But it was a pretty special occasion — Monday was the 50th anniversary of the opening of Inner Sleeve Records.
Ten years ago I had written about Mike Capista and Inner Sleeve Records’s 40th Anniversary. That story appeared in City Pages. Capista, as has been his policy since the start of his store, didn’t want to appear in a photo (he did not for this story either).
That cover story featured a design by Ben Gerhards, which someone used to create an incense holder that sits in the window of Inner Sleeve today - Capista says it’s one of his prized possessions.
So I was happy to be able to come back for the 50th and as I interview him I can see the large incense holder in its window perch. A long-time customer comes in part-way through and sits patiently, happy to hang out while I interview Mike.
Fifty years in business is a pretty big deal, though Capista, who generally doesn’t like to be the center of attention, smiles sheepishly and says it’s all because of his customers’ support over the years.
That also includes social media. I asked Capista if he ever had social media for the store, since I didn’t see any. He had a Facebook fan page for a while, but slowly Facebook diminished the reach of his posts. Eventually he said he couldn’t log on to the page for some reason (he suspects because he never bought ads through Facebook) so he decided that was that when it came to social media. He’s still considering creating a webpage for Inner Sleeve.
Capista opened his shop on Grand Avenue in 1975, though he was only there for about six months he tells me. (He shows me a framed record sleeve with the Grand Avenue address stamped on the bottom that someone recently gave him.) The store was on Third Street for a time, and a few other locations but its current spot is the longest-running at roughly 25 years. He even survived a fire in that location, and a concert at the time helped raise funds to rebuild.
Capista saw the rise, fall and rise again of vinyl records (as he told me in 2015, he never stopped selling vinyl completely though it became harder to get at one point). Interestingly, Capista says that CDs have once again started to see more sales. With vinyl getting expensive, people can buy more CDs for the same price. He says you don’t see the players around much anymore. (People often find if they have a DVD player or game system, many of those play CDs.)
And when he started 50 years ago, his customers were mostly other folks his age. Now he’s got three generations coming into the shop. “So now my customers are from 12 to 90,” Capista says.
Capista says things are different now with all the streaming options available, and some people just stick with that and don’t buy music. But he’s not sure it’s that different - there were people back when he first started who only listened to the radio and who recorded their friends’ music with a tape recorder.
We talk about the live music scene, which Capista has had a front-row seat for. That’s come around full circle again — there wasn’t much of a scene in the 70s, he says, but in the 80s and 90s more places started hosting music. Scott Street went from occasional music to hosting bands nearly every weekend. Now that’s started to diminish again with so many options for entertainment. “There’s so many choices for people’s time now,” Capista says. You couldn’t watch a movie at home or play video games back then, he says. “Nothing stays the same.”
I asked Capista about the future.
He’s not opposed to the idea of selling the store but thinks that’s unlikely. It mostly works because he doesn’t really need a lot of money - it makes money but not necessarily the kind of money say a young entrepreneur with a family would need. In fact, that made it easier for him to survive the pandemic than for most. “I was in a unique spot because I was older,” Capista told The Wausonian. “I didn’t have a house payment or a family to take care of.”
He’s had a few people inquire over the years but once they see the numbers that’s usually the end of it. He thinks maybe a young single person or someone who retired early and wants something to do.
So will I be coming in to interview him for his 60th anniversary? Capista says life would dictate when he decides to step back. Right now, he likes coming to the store and doesn’t see much reason to stop. “If I hated coming here, I wouldn’t be here,” he tells me with a smile.