Dr. Freud's helps customers find the music they'll be excited to play

By: Charlie Mathews, Herald Times Reporter

MANITOWOC — In a digital download age, Jim Vogel doesn't believe music CDs are ever going to go away completely.

"I'm hoping (the record labels) will continue to manufacture them … I think they'll still exist on a boutique level, just as vinyl LPs never went away," said Vogel, owner of Dr. Freud's Institute of Fine Recordings, 925 S. Eighth St. in downtown Manitowoc, "People still want that tactile thing" to be able to not just hear their music purchase but touch its very physical form, said Vogel, 49, who bought the business from Bob Ziegelbauer in February 2006.

Matt Carpenter, 24, agreed wholeheartedly, as he recently purchased used vinyl LP records featuring Bob Seger, REO Speedwagon, Elton John, AC-DC, Boston and the Steve Miller Band.

"I really like the way vinyl sounds," Carpenter said of the 12-inch platters. "The skips and scratches give them character," he said of the used LPs.

But it is the sale of new LPs that have seen a dramatic resurgence in the past couple years.
Vinyl is making a comeback in a time when digital downloads are booming. Sales of LPs were up 80 percent in 2008 versus 2007.

"I love vinyl … have been on a vinyl tear the last week," said Matt Gadzinski, Vogel's store manager.

"Our vinyl customers seem to be so much more into their music, get so excited when they're picking up a record," Gadzinski said.

Fans of the Chicago-based national recording artist Wilco can go to Dr. Freud's, pay $21.99 and get both a vinyl "180-gram High-Performance" LP and a complete CD.

Vogel offers frames to display the cardboard covers of both vintage and new LPs, as part of an extensive variety of items that are not the recording itself.

Brian Zinkel of Manitowoc spent about $70 recently at the store and didn't buy one recorded song. Among the items he took home were a Star Trek lunchbox, Marilyn Monroe refrigerator magnet and two Godzilla T-shirts. "I've never seen one before," Zinkel said.

As a TicketStar affiliate, Dr. Freud's often has long lines of individuals waiting to come in and buy tickets to upcoming shows in the Green Bay area, including Sugarland at The Resch Center.

Superior customer service

But recordings are the essence of the store with Vogel and Gadzinski striving to give the kind of customer attention not available at a big box retailer.

"The service here is excellent," said Margy Friedland, 57, who eventually ordered a CD after Vogel helped her find — via computer with audio clips coming out of the store's speakers — the particular artist's rendition of a song she wanted.

If Vogel and Gadzinski don't have the CD, DVD or LP in stock, they can order off the Internet for prompt delivery.

Austin Bowling, 10, said he can't afford to buy any music … he comes in for the candy.

That's just another item for sale in the store not recording related, including 3-D posters, hundreds of T-shirts, magazines like Rolling Stone, even an Elvis Presley tapestry before he gained lots of weight, but still with his
extra-long sideburns.

Dr. Freud's features all genre of music including rap artists, like South Park Mexican. Guadalupe Ortega was in the store last week buying two of his CDs, "Last Chair Violinist" and "When Devils Strike."

The most popular artist for the past several weeks, Vogel said, has been Michael Jackson, the self-proclaimed "King of Pop" who died in late June.

Metallica may be the top-selling artist at Dr. Freud's since Vogel began working as a full-time employee in 1984.
Gadzinski has been helping customers at Dr. Freud's for nearly as long, about 19 years.

Why has he stayed? "I like listening to music all day … that's a big plus," he said.

"I really do like our customers and you get to know them pretty well," Gadzinski said.

"A lot of times customers will come in, maybe see something they weren't expecting, and leave excited to go play their new music."

Dr. Freud's Institute of Fine Recordings is open 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday; 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Sunday.

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