Loretta Lynn will be leaving the building soon.
The old album cover featuring her big hair and greatest hits is coming down from the display window at Record and Tape Traders in Catonsville, which is scheduled to close its doors for good today.
The company that owns the six-store chain said the Catonsville location has been unable to make a go of it after moving last summer from its longtime site down the street to a smaller location.
The news came as a disappointment to patrons accustomed to the picture window's motif of vinyl discs, concert photos and an old phonograph.
The store is on a stretch of Frederick Road where a collection of guitar, piano and brass instrument shops have earned Catonsville the nickname "Music City, Maryland."
"It's a real shame," said John Tully, one of several customers who bypassed stacks of cardboard boxes partially obscuring the picture window at the entrance Monday.
"This store represents a lot of the music scene, it holds a lot of the feeling about music," the Catonsville resident said. "It's cool to come get vinyl here, because you just can't in a lot of places."
Many once-popular national chains such as Sam Goody and Tower Records have succumbed to online purchasing and one-stop-shopping stores such as Best Buy and Target. But locally, Record and Tape Traders has been a mainstay.
Founded in a house in Towson in 1977, the operation grew and added locations throughout the region.
The Catonsville location was once one of the more popular stores on Frederick Road. The business previously occupied a two-story building on a corner with parking out back and an unmatched display of music from most any genre, as well as movies and posters.
"In the old location, they used to have country, jazz and hip-hop upstairs, and the first floor was predominantly rock," said Joseph Peyton of Catonsville. "I used to come here two to three times a week and buy at least one CD every time I came."
Two years ago, local owners sold the chain to Marietta, Ga.-based Value Music Concepts, which operates regional chains and shopping mall music stores from the South to Northern California.
Brian Smith, a vice president at Value Music, said the Catonsville store had to be relocated last summer to a smaller, one-story building a block away with no parking because the owner of the previous location sold the building.
