Originally slated to open last October, Ballard store Jigsaw Records finally officially began doing business February 10 in the renovated Josephine art space. Owner Chris McFarlane secured the necessary city of Seattle permit and Jigsaw now operates Wednesday-Sunday from 11 am-7 pm. Jigsaw prides itself on carrying vinyl, CDs, and tapes by obscure indie bands from all corners of the world. McFarlane says business has been pretty good so far, with Jigsaw selling a lot of power-pop, punk-pop, and indie-pop releases. "I've actually just created a mix called What Is Indiepop? that compiles 31 of my favorite and fairly definitive indiepop songs (from the Aislers Set, Heavenly, the Lucksmiths, Tullycraft, etc...) taken from records in the shop and on the label onto an 80-minute disc you can pick up for a buck."
In other music-retail news that may be of interest to Jigsaw, Amoeba in Berkeley, California is looking to sell medical marijuana to help bolster business. Seattle record stores should seriously consider this alternative revenue stream, too. Talk about products with symbiotic/synergistic potential...
