It’s the Ides of March 1969, and Don MacLeod has just opened his very own record shop, Music Millennium, using savings from his previous job at Tektronix. Despite the unlucky superstitions surrounding March 15, Music Millennium became a quick success. Although challenges arose throughout the years, such as several locations that had to be closed, Music Millennium’s first store on 31st and Burnside has been open for business for 55 years, making it the longest running music store in not only Oregon, but in the whole Pacific Northwest.
10 years after Music Millennium opened its doors, MacLeod sold his business and asked the new owners to not mess with the store. He told them that they should refer to the staff that worked there with questions or concerns about the business or music, since they were all incredibly knowledgeable in both. Despite this, within six months, the entire staff had left, and by 1984 Music Millennium was going to file for bankruptcy. Hearing this, MacLeod came back to his store, and took on half a million dollars of debt so Music Millenium would stay open.
Putting Portland’s slogan of “Keep Portland Weird” to the test, Music Millennium sold mostly underground and imported music. MacLeod claimed that vinyl imported from Europe was better, since American vinyl was all the scraps and unusable pieces that Europe didn’t want. As the store grew, he split it into two sections: half for imported records and half for local. In the process of importing all this music, MacLeod found a lot of European artists that weren’t selling music in the United States. He started importing music from European artists, and while doing so, his store became known as one of the best places to buy imported records in America.
Though the split of imported and local music has since stopped, Music Millennium still sells a wide variety of music, from modern pop, to classic rock, to country. They sell records and CDs, as well as non-music-related items, like funny socks, movies, and an odd assortment of candy. Additionally, they also host live musical shows from a variety of artists in the store. They’re also incredibly active on Instagram, posting updates of who is coming to perform and what featured albums they’ve got at the front of the store right as you walk in.
Music Millennium is a wonderful and incredibly accepting place. One of their employees, Grace, says, “It’s amazing, everyone’s friendly, [Music Millennium has] an amazing selection of music … and they love the Beatles.” Another employee, Kim Conyers, states, “The thing that’s going to be in common with anyone that comes in here is just that they have a passion for music.” This is clear in the way the store is set up. The isles of records and CDs have just enough room for two people to pass each other. The store is made for people to look at music, and it’s easy to get lost in the rows of albums and artists.
When a store is open for such a long time, it’s bound to have some quirks. Conyers tells a story about an event that happened in 1991 that none of Music Millennium’s owners, from Don MacLeod, to its current owner, Terry Currier, have forgotten about. “One little fun fact about the store is that in 1991, Garth Brooks made a statement against used CDs and was saying that he won’t stock his new albums in any place that sells used CDs.” That was over 30 years ago, and “to this day, we cannot sell Garth Brooks … because he hasn’t made a statement redacting that,” she finishes.
Throughout the years, Music Millennium has had all sorts of ups and downs, from banging business, to being on the verge of bankruptcy. But throughout it all, it has been a wonderful place for Portlanders to buy and sell music. As it just celebrated its 55th birthday, the community that surrounds it can’t see it leaving anytime soon.
