CD Center keeps physical media spinning

A young woman enters the Compact Disc Center on a slow, sunny afternoon.

She ignores the wooden boxes filled with a mix of plastic-wrapped records and more tattered old ones. Instead, she turns to the hundreds of CDs displayed along one wall and in racks on the floor. 

As she goes about her search, the speakers above play a blues song by local musician “Chicago” Carl Snyder from what Mary Radakovits, one of the store’s owners, describes as a “great CD.” 

Despite the amount of music packed into the store, it isn’t cluttered. 

The CDs are alphabetized and organized by genre. If the customer was looking for it, she could easily find a pop, rap or folk album. 

Even polka. 

But the young woman’s hunt is for something specific, something she can’t seem to find. 

She approaches Radakovits at the register and inquires about a Moss Icon CD.

“We can have it next week,” Radakovits tells the young woman, placing an order.

The discovery is their passion, too.

“We’ve always been about finding the music you’re looking for,” Radakovits said. “Now it seems like everything’s everywhere, but it wasn’t always like this.”

The Compact Disc Center opened in 1989 and sells CDs, records and cassette tapes — physical media in an age where music consumption has mainly moved online. 

Throughout the store’s history, the owners have balanced the business side with a love for music and a strong connection with their customers. 

Radakovits said her business partner, Bill Dunning, opened the store after he left the army in the ‘80s. When Dunning first opened the store, he partnered with his sister, who lived in the Lehigh Valley. 

He said they purchased the Bethlehem property with some of her funds and the money he saved during his service.

A few years later, his sister left the business to focus on family. 

Dunning turned to one of the first people he hired, Radakovits, and offered her his sister’s share. 

“That store, never mind the fact that she does most of the day-to-day stuff now, wouldn’t have been there 20 years ago if it hadn’t been for (Radakovits),” Dunning said. 

Dunning transitioned to an advisory role at the store shortly after the Great Recession hit in 2007, which shrunk the staffing budget. He left Radakovits to tend to the daily operations of the store, although he said he still comes in from time to time. 

It’s Radakovits who orders new stock, decides what pre-owned materials to purchase, answers the calls, texts and emails that stream in, and processes stock.

While the music business has changed in the years since the CD gained popularity and most listeners have moved to online streaming, she said she believes physical media is still needed in an increasingly digitized world. 

“You can’t stream everything,” Radakovits said. “Not everything is on Spotify, Pandora, wherever. And just because it’s there now doesn’t mean it’s going to be there a year from now, so people who are serious about their music want some physical product.”

She said a song sounds different when it’s played off a CD or vinyl. She can’t own a streamed song, she said.

But she can own a CD. 

For the customers who share her passion for physical media, Radakovits said she tries to anticipate what new releases might interest them. 

She also stocks used products and old releases. When people come into the store looking to sell, she decides what to take and what to reject. 

Sometimes she has plenty of copies already. 

Other times, the seller’s items are in bad condition. 

Occasionally, they’re not even authentic. 

“I had somebody walk in yesterday, and he had two binders full of just discs, and they were mostly movies, some music,” Radakovits said. “There was no paperwork, no cases, and they were bootleg Chinese, off the street in New York City stuff. I’m like, ‘No, this is not worth anything at all.’”

Beyond managing the physical inventory, Radakovits is also the go-to person when customers want something that’s not available in stores, when they’re hoping for a new recommendation or when they can’t quite remember a song they heard the other day. 

“We do the hard work because not everybody has time, inclination, the computer skills we have here,” she said. “I think that’s what’s kept us in business: customer service.” 

Many of the customers who amble through the store are regulars. Some visit every week looking for something new to add to their collection, and Radakovits said the store’s approach to service keeps them coming back.

As a neighborhood record store rather than a chain, Compact Disc Center’s employees cater to the local community and engage in the local music scene. 

Because of this, Radakovits said, she’s able to take time to chat with customers and get to know them well.

Customers of all ages come into the store. While plenty of regulars are older, she said she’s noticed an increasing interest among younger patrons as well.

For some customers, a visit to the store is a family affair. 

Bethlehem resident Nick DiMaria has been bringing his son to the store for years and said he’s taken him to see local performances by musicians they’ve discovered there.

DiMaria said he’s been buying almost all of his music there since the store opened, and always talks to Radakovits about different types of music 

“(Radakovits) became more like family or friend over the years,” DiMaria said. “We have a lot of music in common that we talk about, so sometimes it’s a social time when I go there.”

Radakovits said interactions like those, and her lasting love for music, is what has kept her in the business for so long. 

Even when times are tough. 

“If I ever lose my love for music, then I’m done,” Radakovits said. “Business can overwhelm you to the cost of not loving music as much. Things are different. You have to worry about ‘Can we pay our invoices this month?’ But I haven’t lost the love yet of the music.”