…Wait, wut???
That’s a shame about Closet Child’s new policy. I mean, I get it. Sitting on a ton of grandfather vkei merchandise isn’t going to pay the bills. Even if I’m not really into the scene anymore, I’m a strong advocate for preserving history through physical media. This will certainly make it more challenging for overseas fans looking for some older CDs.
Happy for the pr0n fans, I guess.
right? the first time I walked into seeing creepy old guys and cheap dvds it was a shocker.
If they were smart theyd just put some of that stuff as online only like they do with some of the clothing,
but aging vk companies and innovation do not really go hand in hand @_@; ;
they never ever even got around to listing band goods on the cd site all the years they had it in stores.
The men’s section and visual kei CD/goods floor of closetchild in Shinjuku will close on 7/31. The online store will still be open.
The end of an era D:
Just noticed their webshop says temporarily closed due to a move. I’d noticed that their selection had dwindled over the last maybe year or two. Popular bands like D or dir en grey etc. etc. that used to have pages and pages of product suddenly had 1 page of product, or even less…just a few items. I had also noticed that the days of being able to buy a CD used on their site shortly after it’s release for cheap seems to be gone. Wonder if the webshop will come back and if so what it will be like. Like someone else here said, it would be great if they took all that hard to move product that’s been removed from the shops and throw it all up online
A fair amount of that stock may be gone now since they did a 50% off sale in the last week of opening (I went there and picked up a bunch of stuff absurdly cheap).
In terms of buying things soon after release, that’s all gone to Mercari - there’s no money in selling to second-hand stores. As an example, I bought RAZOR’s new single this week the day after release for 650 yen on Mercari when it would have cost 2000 new. That’s new and unopened, by the way.
Closet Child was paying like 10-100 yen for a brand new sealed single post release so no wonder the fans took their sales to Mercari.
closetchild has discontinued physical sale of CDs altogether as of December 2022, although their online shop is still open
It’s prob for used CDs and stuff. I guess it’s better then nothing at least they are still around 
I recently heard from someone that there is still one store in Harajuku that sells CDs too but maybe their info was out of date?
In May I saw the signs for that store but I could not find it 
but maybe I just didn’t walk far enough. The side street looked a bit sketchy and I was alone so I didn’t continue looking for it.
something about this headline really makes me sad. the whole last few years have been filled with “vkei staple isn’t gonna be around anymore” but somehow this one has extra weight.
I’m not too much of a pessimist; i think vkei will adapt and live on, find new ways to be cool and relevant even as the times and structures change. But - maybe selfishly - i’ve always associated vkei with physical CDs living and being valued long past their viability otherwise, to the point where the two seemed linked.
I’ve bought vinyls, and have a collection full of digitals. I’ve even got a couple of cassettes! But CDs were really that perfect point for me of offering so much tangible, physical art attached to the music per size and cost. I really can’t think of a better format.
I remember opening Sukekiyo’s IMMORTALIS, and even the softness of the paper was part of their art. I mean, the liner notes in the booklet were on a softer material than usual, more frail and delicate, and you know as soon as you feel it it was a conscious decision. It’s one of the few i’m most excited to show people out of all the CDs i’ve bought.
Well, hopefully CDs continue on in some regard, just like Boris has been fighting since the 90s to keep analog recording relevant lol
I don’t think CDs are going away yet. It’s just that it made no financial sense to sell your CDs to closetchild for peanuts when you can cut out the middleman and sell them on mercari instead.
I mean, i loved going to closetchild when it was still around, but mercari is so much more convenient for sellers when it comes to mid- and high-value stuff. For low-value stuff closetchild was no different from dropping your Type ABCD singles off at the local book off.
If it is where it used to be more than 10 years ago, it was a bit sketchy indeed 
I suppose I will find out soon enough. If it’s not, I will have to make do with whatever book-offs I manage to find I guess.
Yeah this makes perfect sense I think. And while I will miss Closet Child, the japanese second hand market is so much easier to reach now that I suppose it is not really necessary anymore
Them and Puresound were a “must” all the times I went to Tokyo, but with the developing of proxies and mercari, etc. their business model got quite outdated the last 5-6 years with their overpricing policies.
Though it was always nice to enter those kind of shops and be able to watch those CDs, merch, etc. “in person”.
Knowing I won’t be able to squat down and dig through CDs at closet child when I go back to Japan is definitely a bummer. Sure their prices may have been higher, but at least I could get a few CDs there and not have to wait for them to be shipped or pay extra for shipping to the US.
Bummer.
The end of an era. 50% of my physical collection is from these stores. At least Pure Sound still exists (as far as I’m aware)
It is a shame. I remember using their online service a few times back im the day. People saying they were pricey is baffling me because i picked up a lot of stuff for dirt cheap. Like totally agree with the abive about being fleeced for multiple variants of the same release but remember Closetchild stocking a lot for 100-200 yen each or something so did go for this a few times there which i wouldnt ordinarily.
puresound still exists but they no longer ship to overseas customers