Popular Alexandria record shop floods, forced to close

It’s one of the last things a business owner wants to deal with — a pipe bursting and a store flooding.

Crooked Beat Records, a popular record store in Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood, is trying to figure out its next steps after the building it’s in flooded over the weekend.

“We’re entering into our store — this is the back area. […] It was five inches deep in here,” owner Bill Daly said. “[…] If you’re into vinyl, you probably understand what happened here, and it’s not good.”

Daly opened Crooked Beat Records in 1997. They were in DC’s Adams Morgan neighborhood for years but eventually moved to Virginia.

“Alexandria has been great,” he said. “A lot of our D.C. customers still come. We love this location. We love Del Ray.”

But he is not loving the situation his store is going through right now.

“All of these are Ramones records that are just ruined,” he said. “[…] Nina Simone, ruined. Bob Dylan, ruined. Tom Petty, Gil Scott-Heron. And what happens is, the records are fine. They’ll play. But the covers are going to be warped and damaged. […] This is an original Bob Dylan pressing. And it’s completely messed up. […] It’s an original poster of a show — this is Janis Joplin. These things go for $600-$1000. And there’s about 15 of these — ruined — of different bands.”

The list goes on and on. Daly says at least 400 records are ruined, and what’s more, after the initial flooding this weekend, it happened again on Tuesday.

This isn’t the first flood Daly has dealt with in the store’s nearly three decades open, but Daly keeps going.

“I love music. I love selling records. The kind of interruptions you get, water and records don’t mix. I just love what I’m doing. I think our customers love what we’re doing,” he said.
So what’s next for Crooked Beat Records? Daly says they’ll have to stay closed for some time as the cleanup continues.

He says he isn’t giving up, but he’s now exploring the possibility of moving to a new location.
He claims that the building he’s in right now has faced several other issues. News4 reached out to the landlord for comment but has not heard back.