‘Funky Fresh’ to close shop

After 20 years, iconic record store shuts doors

 The pain is abundantly clear in Rusty Pendleton’s voice, as he speaks from a chair at the music store in Dudley Square where he’s worked for more than two decades. In less than a month, “Funky Fresh Records” will close its doors, leaving what he calls a major void in the community, as well as his own life.

“That wall used to be all vinyl,” sighed Pendleton, now 42, pointing to a wall covered by posters and cardboard cutouts of artists. Pendleton, aka “Mr. Funky Fresh,” started telling people the store was closing over the weekend on his Touch 106.1-FM radio show. The final day is Oct. 1.

A longtime player in the city’s urban music scene, Pendleton got a job at the store more than 20 years ago, when it was then called “Spin City.” Several years later he took over for the owner and renamed it “Funky Fresh Records.” The store has spanned several generations, and he said famous artists such as 50 Cent, LL Cool J and Mary J. Blige have made their way through.

But in a new era with digital downloads and bootlegs “cutting out the middle man” and competing with large chain stores, Pendleton said business is suffering. He started considering closing shop three years ago and passed on opportunities to relocate because he could not bear leaving his community behind. But in the last few months he finally accepted he had no other choice.

“When you love something, you’ll do whatever it takes to keep it moving,” a somber Pendleton said.

But in describing his decision to finally close his store, Pendleton is as real as it gets.

“You bury it before it buries you,” he said.