What happened to Poobah's?

The new Skein is in a building that for many, many years was a haven for those interested in no longer available records, tapes and just about anything related to pop music. It's an old craftsman style house built probably sometime in the 1920s. Poobah's was a landmark.

The original owner of the business decided to retire last year and sold it to one of his employees. The new owner could not get the financing needed to purchase the property so he moved the business to another location. So now the old house is home to Skein.

You'd just have to see the look on the faces of people who come in expecting to find Poobah's. Mostly guys in their mid-thirties. A few women, too. Sometimes they just stand in the door looking blank. Sometimes they'll actually come in and ask what happened to the record store that used to be here. Or maybe they just jump back and shut the door without ever taking in the change. It's like they've taken a wrong turn somewhere and can't believe they've ended up in the wrong place. One guy last week just stood inside the door for about five minutes trying to grasp what had happened. He did wish us well before he left.

Then there was the guy last week who came in to look around while he was having the muffler replaced on his car. (There are two muffler shops across the street.) He said he had purchased a knitting machine for his wife a few years ago but she didn't seem to like it. And he didn't understand why she always bought cheap yarn. I wanted to, but didn't, say "That won't be a problem if she shops here."