Last Sunday afternoon, Chaz Martenstein shared a big announcement on the Bull City Records Instagram account.
"Friends! It is with a full, steady heart that I am announcing the retirement of Bull City Records," the post began.
After earning the love and trust of the local music community over the past 20 years, the appreciation and support started pouring in instantly.
"Thank you so much for all the years of wonderful music and just being a wonderful person," one commenter posted.
At the age of 25, Martenstein opened Bull City Records in 2005 after moving to the Triangle from Boulder, Colorado. He made friends fast and quickly established himself and his store as institutions of the local music scene, both as a store and a place for intimate performances from local and touring artists. Last month, Bull City Records hosted an in-store performance from Greg Cartwright of the band Reigning Sound.
Since opening, Martenstein has watched the decline of CD sales and the resurgence of vinyl sales, witnessed the growth of music streaming, and survived both a recession and a lockdown. He says after all that, the time to wrap things up is now, on his own terms.
"It's been a good and positive 20 years," he told WUNC. "I think I really accomplished what I set out to do and beyond what I thought I could do. It was an amazing time, but at this point in my life I feel like I'm ready for a new challenge."
What that next challenge turns out to be is still unclear at the moment, but Martenstein says he and his family have no plans for leaving the Triangle and he hopes to remain a part of the community that he's helped build and maintain since opening the store.
When asked what he'll miss most about the shop, Martenstein said it's going to be the customers.
"That's the hardest part," he said. "The relationships I've formed and the daily interactions I've grown used to. Striking up conversations with random strangers or when someone I haven't seen in three years stops by to say hi."
When asked what he won't miss about running the shop, Martenstein struggled to come up with an answer.
"I guess the feeling I get when someone comes in looking for a record and we don't have it," he said. "I always felt so bad when we didn't have what someone was looking for."
That answer is a great example of why Bull City Records will be greatly missed, and why Martenstein is such a beloved figure in town.
Bull City Records will permanently close in late April. In the meantime, Martenstein will be adjusting the store hours as operations wind down and also offering sales for his most loyal customers.
"My goal is to do sales that are geared towards the friends and regulars who have kept us alive all these years," he said. "We'll start next week with 25% off of everything."
