Music Millennium, Portland’s oldest record store, is looking for new ownership

Music Millennium opened in Portland in 1969. A couple of years later, 17-year-old Terry Currier discovered it.

“I found myself going to Music Millennium two or three nights a week after I got off work,” he wrote in a recent Instagram post explaining his plan to find a buyer.

“I got out of school at noon and was able to work 40 hours a week my senior year, and all the money went to music.”

He called the store his university, because that’s where he received an invaluable musical education.

It’s the oldest record store in Portland. And Currier, now 70, wants to find someone to carry on his dream.

“It’s time to find a successor to keep Music Millennium going for many years to come,” he said.

Music Millennium has been selling records, CDs, 8-tracks and cassettes for as long as most Portlanders can remember. Some say it’s the oldest record store in the Pacific Northwest.

What’s easier to verify is that it’s a well-loved institution. Over the years, it has hosted famous rock stars including Joe Strummer, Sheryl Crow, Everclear and Cheap Trick.

But Currier said it’s time for someone else to take over.

“I’ve turned down every offer from developers that have called over the years wanting to buy the building,” he said. “I want that building to be a part of Portland’s landscape forever. Plus, I want Music Millennium to be in it for just as many years.”

He said he’s open to any ideas that will take the store into the future, from selling both the business and the building, to selling just the business and staying on to ensure a smooth transition.

Music Millennium has proved to be a survivor over the years. Thousands of record stores closed at the start of the millennium as young people started downloading songs instead of buying CDs and records.

In 2000, there were about 7,500 stores across the country. Just seven years later, there were only about 1,500.

But over the last 15 years or so, vinyl has enjoyed a revival.

Currier says the pandemic proved good for business as families, stuck inside, went down to their basements and rediscovered old turntables and record collections.

“We started seeing parents and their kids, and their grandparents shopping in the store together,” he told OPB. “Actually wanting ownership in physical music.”

Currier said he’s already getting emails from people interested in taking over the store. He’s not sure how long it’ll take to find the right person.

But he said when it happens, he plans to go home and look after his wife, who has Alzheimer’s And he’ll sort out his music collection, which is up to 30,000 records and CDs strong.

“I’ll downsize that to a manageable amount so I can listen for the rest of my life.”

Another way Currier made his mark on the Rose City: He was the first Portland business owner to get stickers printed that read “Keep Portland Weird.” He said it was his way of encouraging people to shop at their local stores, rather than in national chains.

He said he got the idea from a friend in Austin, Texas, which also had a “Keep Austin Weird” movement.