Long Ear record store to close July 3 after 50 years

After 41 years in Coeur d’Alene and more than five decades in business overall, The Long Ear will close July 3, ending a run that helped define the city’s record and CD culture.

Owners Terry and Deon Borchard said the building they leased on the 1600 block of Government Way was sold, and they could not find another space that fit the store’s size, visibility and rent requirements. That left the couple facing a familiar pressure for small independent retailers in a fast-changing market: even when sales improve, the lease can still win.

The timing makes the closure more painful. The Borchards said the store has been busier than ever in recent years, with strong sales over the past two years fueled by a vinyl resurgence. That rebound has helped revive interest in physical music, but it was not enough to offset the cost and uncertainty of finding a new location in Coeur d’Alene’s commercial market.

The Long Ear first opened in Big Bear Lake, California, in 1973 with about 400 records, 88 eight-track tapes, 3 cassettes and $6,000 in a 16-by-30-foot building. The Borchards later moved the business to Coeur d’Alene after Big Bear Lake became too crowded, opening here on Nov. 4, 1985.

From there, the shop moved several times over the years, including locations on Government Way, Fourth Street and later a former 5,000-square-foot Army-Navy surplus store. Through each move, The Long Ear kept the same mix that made it a local destination: hard-to-find records, CDs, posters, incense, collectibles and clothing, along with the knowledge of staff who knew the inventory by heart. Its cat, Major Tom, became part of the store’s identity, too.

For longtime customers, the loss is personal as well as commercial. Tad Mosher of Hayden said he has been coming to the store for more than 30 years and still prefers holding a CD in his hand instead of downloading music online. That attachment explains why The Long Ear’s closing lands as more than another storefront change on Government Way. It marks the end of one of Coeur d’Alene’s longest-running specialty shops, a place that survived for 50 years by building loyalty one conversation, one album and one customer at a time.