Despite more and more music being purchased online, independent Norman record store Guestroom Records has done well. So well, in fact, that co-owners Justin Sowers and Travis Searle are opening a second, bigger store in Northwest Oklahoma City.

What makes their business work, Searle said, is that their business model never hinged on selling $20 CDs.

"It's just a lower overhead," he said. "We sell mostly used CDs for five dollars that we buy for a few bucks, which is still a good markup. You can get a used CD here for half of what you might at a big retail store that doesn't carry used music."

NEW SITE
According to Searle, the new store, located at 3701 N. Western, is bigger than the Norman site, with about 2,800 square feet of floor space vs. Norman's 1,900. The store opens Saturday. 

"We had always wanted to open a store in Oklahoma City," Sowers said. "But we started seriously talking about it about six months ago. I started looking around, and drive by this place every day, but never thought we could afford it."

Norman is a good place to sell music, both Searles and Sowers agreed, but both are anxious to sell music in this bigger city.

"There are a million people in the metro area," Sowers said. "That's a ton more traffic than we could ever hope for at the Norman store." "Joe Wertz