![]() In honor of this week's cover story on the history of Zia Records, we spoke with many current and former Zia employees who have worked behind the trade counters over the years. Trade counter employees have been notoriously discerning or fickle over the decades, much to the chagrin of customers. ![]() It’s been a lifeline for cash-strapped Arizonans or a place to sell off old collections of stuff. Many of these items have been bought by Zia employees at its trade counter, one of the chain’s hallmarks during the last 40 years. “Typically our customers aren't going to come in and be like ‘I only want CDs or movies or video games.’ And when they're walking through the store, they might see something else they're into.” “It's all part of the pop-cultural thing or lifestyle thing that Zia has expanded into ,” Durham says. (They’ve even got masks and costumes for Halloween.) Fast-forward to today and Zia has become an eight-store chain that buys everything from records, tapes, and CDs to books, video games, collectibles, and apparel. In those days, it was quality used records and cassettes, which Zia founder Brad Singer was eager to resell. Zia Records has been buying and trading stuff since its first store opened in spring 1980. ![]() Both were bought by employees at Zia’s trade counter and wound up selling within days. Like the time someone brought in a CPR dummy or an official NASCAR tire. “Sometimes it's really weird, which is cool because the stuff we don't see every day is more exciting.” “It's almost like Pawn Stars, in the sense that you never know what's going to come through those doors,” Durham says. Just ask longtime employee Mike Durham, the record store chain’s media buyer and a former store manager, who’s literally seen it all.īeyond CDs, DVDs, or video games, Zia customers have been known to bring in some rather oddball items, which Durham says is fun. People have brought some strange items into Zia Records to sell over the years.
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