After three decades in business, a beloved Lexington record store is counting down its final days. CD Central owner Steve Baron, who first launched the shop out of South Hill Station in 1995, announced on social media in August that he would close the store in early September. The news was met with mixed emotions from customers sad to see the business go but also congratulatory to Baron as he eyes retirement. Dozens of comments poured in, with people sharing stories of hanging out in the store as teenagers (and now shopping there with their own teenage kids), remembering other South Limestone businesses that have come and gone since CD Central opened, and even recalling meeting a future spouse among the racks.
Steve Baron
Baron says the decision, one he’s considered for a couple of years, stems from a desire to travel and spend time with his father, and not from financial strain. Baron says the decision isn’t any indication of the business being on shaky ground. In fact, CD Central is closing during one of its strongest business stretches ever.
“We’re still seeing growth in the business and we’re on track to have one of our best years ever,” Baron said. “It hurts to shut down something that is doing well, but all things must come to an end eventually. You hear stories about guys who refuse to retire and work until they’re 90, but I didn’t want to do that.”
And for fans, there’s a silver lining: CD Central will soon transition into a new version of a Lexington mainstay from the past, Cut Corner Records.
A Center of Community
The shop's recent growth has been fueled by customers both new and old, from loyalists dating back to the South Hill Station days to the fresh crop of UK students who descend on campus each fall, each finding something to love and listen to within the store’s walls.
One of them is Middlesboro native Blake Carpenter, who said CD Central helped him through homesickness when he moved to Lexington for school in 2005.
“When I first went to college, I went through a pretty bad spell of homesickness,” Carpenter said. “Between adjusting to it and being away from friends and parents, it was rough that first semester — then I found CD Central. I could get lost in there looking through music, discovering local bands, and finding a new poster to plaster on my dorm room wall. And for that little bit of time, I didn’t feel homesick. Graduation came and life moved on, but I could always depend on that store to lift my spirits. Even if I was just driving by, I’d look over and smile.”
CD Central has long drawn music lovers to browse, discover local artists, and soak in Lexington’s independent music scene.
As Carpenter’s story illustrates, CD Central was more than a music shop. It was a hub for Lexington’s music community. Since its inception, the business has consigned with several local artists to sell their music, offered its window space to post concert flyers, sponsored a stage during the city’s Fourth of July Festival at Phoenix Park, and hosted countless in-store shows of its own.
Artists including Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, The Black Keys, The Avett Brothers, and Victoria Williams have all performed there. CD Central was also among the first independent record stores in the country to participate in Record Store Day when it debuted in 2008.
“We’ve always wanted to be a part of the community and musical culture of Lexington and not just a store selling stuff,” Baron said. “That’s one of the things that separates local businesses from the others — the ability to engage with people locally on a grassroots level.”
“We’ve always wanted to be a part of the community and musical culture of Lexington and not just a store selling stuff. That’s one of the things that separates local businesses from the others — the ability to engage with people locally on a grassroots level.”
Former employee Aayat Ali, who worked at CD Central from 2017 to 2020, described the shop as “a third space in its truest form” that creates a sense of nostalgia for both longtime patrons and first-time college students.
“It feels really special to have gotten a peek behind the curtain for the few years I worked there,” Ali said. “I left with lifelong connections and memories, and I’m thankful to Steve for curating that culture and letting me have a small part in it.”
Encore: Cut Corner Records Returns
Although the closure marks the end of a decades-long run that saw the introduction of music downloading, then streaming, social media, and a global pandemic — even the comeback of vinyl — another music store is ready to take its place, and it's a familiar name to longtime Lexingtonians. On September 13, the South Limestone space will reopen as Cut Corner Records, reviving the name that adorned the storefront from 1979 until CD Central moved into the space in 1999.
The new venture will be run by Louisville native Bob Lewis, former CD Central employee Tony Manuel, and a silent third partner. They’ll retain most of the shop’s inventory and fixtures, from CDs and vinyl to display racks and countertops.
For Lewis, who attended UK and often slipped into the original Cut Corner between classes, the revival is personal. After it became CD Central, he continued coming back, even after he moved to Louisville for work.
“When [the three of us] first found out that CD Central was going to close, we got worried because we didn’t want to see something that wasn’t a record store potentially going in there,” Lewis said. “We started thinking of what we could do that would allow for that to continue on and the conversation naturally moved into taking an ownership role.”
Baron, who is leasing the building to the trio, agrees. “It tempers the disappointment of having to close the store knowing that there’s going to be another independent one moving in that’s run by local people who are going to do a lot of the same things we were.”
According to Lewis, Cut Corner will offer an increased selection of vinyl, ephemera, and other music accessories. Otherwise, customers shouldn't see many changes in day-to-day operations, apart from a different (yet familiar) name out front. Most of CD Central’s current employees will stay on, and Baron may still pop in from time to time.
“What I’ll miss most is the interactions with people. A lot of the work I’m not going to miss though,” Baron jokes. “They say when you retire that it’s important to have social networking and a lot of that for me has revolved around the store. I’ve met so many awesome people through the years that I’ll miss seeing on a regular basis, even though I’m excited for what comes next.”