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Jerry Weber, of Jerry's Records, fields questions about old records and past Pittsburgh concerts last year.
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Jerry's Records says so long to vast collection of 45s

Larry Roberts/Post-Gazette

Jerry's Records says so long to vast collection of 45s

From now on, Jerry’s Records only spins at 33⅓ and 78.

The Squirrel Hill store has sold its collection of nearly 700,000 45s to an online dealer in Germany for an undisclosed price.

Owner Jerry Weber said he wanted the records to remain in the United States, and they almost did. Jack White’s Third Man Records in Nashville was about to close the deal on them, but backed out over the weekend, he said.

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“I approached many people [in the U.S.],” Mr. Weber said, “and I was going to give them a better price, but no one locally wanted to do it.”

The 45s, he said, weren’t moving out of the store at the right speed.

“Kids don’t like 45s, unless they’re punk rock or metal. So that leaves people from 55 to 75, and they have everything. The only people who bought them are people with jukeboxes and that’s a very low minority.”

The 45s took an enormous amount of floor space, which he wants to devote to bringing more vinyl into the store. “The 45s section,” he said, “was bigger than most local stores.”

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“First Record Rama, now Jerry's huge 45 collections escape U.S. hands,” said Ed Salamon, longtime radio executive and author of “Pittsburgh’s Golden Age of Radio.” “The 45 space will be filled with LPs, so no vinyl shortage, but a sad day for us singles collectors.”

That leaves The Attic in Millvale with the only substantial local collection of 45s.

“I’ll bet they’re popping champagne and dancing at the Attic right now,” Mr. Weber said.

Scott Mervis: smervis@post-gazette.com

First Published: April 26, 2016, 9:02 p.m.

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Jerry Weber, of Jerry's Records, fields questions about old records and past Pittsburgh concerts last year.  (Larry Roberts/Post-Gazette)
Jerry's Records in Squirrel Hill.
Larry Roberts/Post-Gazette
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