Business

Manifest Discs to close Charlotte store after two decades of selling music and movies

Manifest Discs on South Boulevard is closing after two decades selling CDs and vinyl albums. It did not give a specific date for when the store will close.
Manifest Discs on South Boulevard is closing after two decades selling CDs and vinyl albums. It did not give a specific date for when the store will close. Street View image from Jun 2021. © 2021 Google

One of the oldest and most popular music stores in Charlotte is shutting down.

Manifest Discs did not provide a specific closure date, but announced “everything must go” in a liquidation sale starting 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 26. The store is at 6239 South Boulevard in south Charlotte.

“After twenty plus years, Manifest Charlotte is closing,” the store posted Nov. 24 on Instagram and Facebook.

“We would like to thank all of our loyal customers who have supported our store for so many years.”

Merchandise will be 30% to 75% off in most cases, the store wrote.

An explanation for the closure was not provided, and no one answered the store’s phone on Thanksgiving Day.

News of the closure drew hundreds of reactions on social media from longtime fans of the store.

“Devastating news. ... You will be greatly missed and this one will leave a scar,” Michael W Murphy wrote.

“Man this breaks my heart!” Lacy Turner Burton posted.

“I am crestfallen. I loved this place more than anywhere else in Charlotte,” Zach Clayton said.

Manifest was well known in the community for selling both new and previously owned music, including vinyl records.

Billboard magazine reports the “19,000-square-foot superstore” opened in May 1999 and was the seventh store in a chain that began in South Carolina.

The chain was founded in 1985 by Carl Singmaster, “a metal and heavy music fan,” The State newspaper reported. The Manifest store in Columbia closed in 2018, the newspaper said.

Manifest Discs in Charlotte announced in February 2020 it had been “purchased by Sunrise Records ... a Canadian record store chain that started in 1977.”

This story was originally published November 25, 2021 at 10:13 AM.

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Mark Price
The Charlotte Observer
Mark Price is a state reporter for The Charlotte Observer and McClatchy News outlets in North Carolina. He joined the network of newspapers in 1991 at The Charlotte Observer, covering beats including schools, crime, immigration, LGBTQ issues, homelessness and nonprofits. He graduated from the University of Memphis with majors in journalism and art history, and a minor in geology. 
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