I’m also seeing increasing sales in harder rock, a resurgence from older people. When I bought the store, bluegrass was more popular. So what music is popular these days? “The past several years, Americana was the biggest seller, but I’m seeing a little downward trend with that. You can’t buy based on top 40.” Bueno looks for small, independent labels, “Things that don’t get much radio play,” he says, “the sales of Top 10 songs are mostly digital downloads.” It’s a really tough business, in order to succeed you really have to be a niche buyer and know your customers. He explains further, “The way the industry is going, local record shops are going to dominate the market instead of retail chains. “Ours (inventory) is based on what customers like.” What’s the secret to his success? “Knowing your customer base and making decisions based on that,” Bueno replied. But Bozeman supports local, independent businesses and nobody could stand the thought of it disappearing.” He goes on to say, “I didn’t want to be the person that shut down Cactus Records.” Bueno laughs, “It’s two steps forward and one step back. “A few years ago, 70% of music stores went under,” Bueno explains, “I definitely thought I was going to be one of them.” But enthusiastic employees and a loyal customer based rallied to keep the store going. The store has prospered despite the ups and downs of the economy and the surge in digital music. Bueno spent a few months putting a proposal together and after a few negotiations, he hit the ground running. At the time, Napster had shut down and iTunes was less than a year old so local music stores were still going strong. A friend who worked for Cactus mentioned that the owners lived out of town and might be open to selling. A Montana native, Bueno was living in San Francisco working for a record distribution company but found himself spending all of his vacations in Bozeman. “I became a business owner right when the whole world changed,” Bueno recalls. Mike “Bueno” Good, the store’s purveyor, bought the business on September 5, 2001, just six days before 9/11. Started in the 1970’s, Cactus has made a name for themselves as being one of the few remaining local music stores a feat in and of itself in today’s music environment. That the comment would then become the store’s tag line.īozeman has a lot of icons, but Cactus Records is one of the local favorites. A husband and wife are walking down the street passing by a local record shop when the husband leans in and whispers rather loudly, “That place is a weirdo store.” Little did they know that the owner of Cactus Records was walking right behind them.
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