Missoula rocks record store

MISSOULA, MONT -- In the heart of most college towns lies a record store; St. Cloud has the Electric Fetus, and Missoula, Mont. has Rockin' Rudy's.

Rockin' Rudy's has fueled Missoula's music scene for the past 30-some years. Its location has changed three times, but the owner remains the same, and with him the store's style.

Rockin' Rudy's humble roots stood with selling strictly records, CDs, cassettes and everything else that had to do with music. Its current location gave it enough room to expand into what some call a "head" shop.

For a reference point, Rockin' Rudy's moved into the building of an old bakery in town around 15 years ago; it's about four times larger than the Electric Fetus in St. Cloud.

Missoula is around the same size as St. Cloud, with the University of Montana at the heart of the town as well.

Currently, Rockin' Rudy's carries bags, bumper stickers, greeting cards, incense, jewelry, journals, magnets, posters, soaps, clothes, things to eat, toys, music and many other little goodies.

"Well, it's definitely a tourist attraction. We have people that may be passing through from New York that their cousin told them they have to stop at Rockin' Rudy's before they leave town," Molly Huffman said.

She has worked at Rudy's for 11 years and has lived in Missoula her whole life.

"Whenever there's an exchange program at the university, we have students from other countries in here. People will come into town for Rockin' Rudy's, and then they will hit the road again," she said.

Much like most independent record stores, Rudy's was almost forced to expand and carry other products in order to compensate for the decline in record sales.

"It's definitely important for people to know you can't buy, you can't even find CDs that we have here at Target. I mean you'll never find those rare things that you're looking for. We can get almost anything that people are looking for, unless it's out of print," Huffman said.

"Coolest store in Missoula: it had a lot of neat stuff. It's just like the usual vibes you get from a good head shop. Head shop maybe a place where people sell pipes, but I think it applies; it's a good music store," Ryan Johnson said.

Lee and Ryan Johnson are cousins from Utah and Minnesota that visit family every year in Missoula. Each year, they make it a point to stop by Rockin' Rudy's. Both were in the store picking up some CDs and gifts for loved ones at home.

"I also noticed that their music collection is better than most you see. At your generic music stores, you don't see bands like Primus or Ween or stuff like that available.

It was right up there compared to like Down in the Valley (in Maple Grove, Minn.) and Discontent (in Moorhead, Minn.). They have the same style of stuff, it's just bigger because they expanded into clothing, jewelry and the card section and stuff like that," Johnson said.

Walking around the store, there is a lot other than merchandise for customers to look at. Rare concert posters and limited release records decorate the walls.

Hand made Rockin' Rudy's posters and promotions advertise as well. The women's bathroom is decorated with famous women from the music industry; the men's is decorated with famous men.

Many customers can be spotted walking around without buying anything just to soak in the beauty of the place.

Despite the unique qualities of the store Huffman said it still suffered through many problems throughout the years.

"Probably the biggest problem would be trying to compete with the big buck stores that have moved in. Luckily this store is unique enough that people still want to come here, but it's hard to compete with prices with places like Wal-Mart. We have a lot of local supporters that shop here and refuse to go to other places," Huffman said.

Rockin' Rudy's has loyal supporters from the community, mostly because Rockin' Rudy's supports the community it lives in.

Outside the store, flyers from local concerts decorate the parking columns; inside, multiple bulletin boards post upcoming events. Rudy's places a full-page ad on the back page of the Missoulian, their local paper, informing customers of the latest items and sales.

In addition, most of the jewelry, pottery and other unique items are hand-made by artists in the area. Some of the unique qualities can bring the prices higher then what one will find at Target or Wal-Mart, but most of the items are one of a kind.

For more information about Rockin' Rudy's or to place online orders, visit www.rockinrudys.com.