Staff, owners, and dedicated friends have been moving forward day-by-day to help rebuild the family-owned Attic Records after the swift, massive destruction to their business caused by Hurricane Ivan in September. Millions of dollars in inventory, much of it old and irreplaceable, filled whole dumpsters again and again placed outside of the building.
Record-high floodwaters left records and CDs stored in three basements as destroyed and unsaveable. Well over half of the Attic's interior suffered the same damage and fate as floodwater quickly filled the store's area. Long a Pittsburgh mainstay, primarily specializing in oldies and doo-wop, the Attic opened in 1980. An entire third of the store's operation is dedicated to the needs of the dance music DJ, where a large room of 12-inch singles and a listening station are available.
Looking to resume retail operation by January, those involved have changed their original roles as salespeople to physical laborers to painters and planners and organizers and hopefully very soon back to sales again. Picking up the pieces, as it were, while working to preserve and enhance what was left after the unprecedented destruction of the path of Ivan. It is one of many Pittsburgh area businesses to slowly re-emerge in the aftermath of disaster.
Attic Records is located on 513 Grant Avenue in Pittsburgh, PA 15209. They can be reached via email at atticrecords@cs.com or phone at (412) 821-8484. As a way to help the Attic rebuild, musical donations are welcomed and appreciated, with receipts provided and postage costs reimbursed.
