Long Ear moves a short distance

COEUR d'ALENE — The beat will go on for The Long Ear at a new location.

The Long Ear CDs and More, an iconic, colorful music store with a rabbit listening to tunes with headphones as its logo, will be at its current store at 2405 N. Fourth St. through Saturday.

The business, which opened in 1973, will open at its new location less than a mile away in the former Phil's Army-Navy Outdoor store at 1620 N. Government Way around March 1.

"Our landlord is selling the building that we're in, but we are also bursting at the seams," said Deon Borchard, who owns the store with her husband, Terry. "Whenever we move into a new location we make it our own. We'll make it feel like the traditional Long Ear vibe, like that other room of our house."

Borchard added that a buyer for the Fourth Street location has not been determined and that The Long Ear will lease at its new location.

The Long Ear moved into the store on Fourth in 2000. Before that, it was located in a strip mall on Government Way near Les Schwab Tires starting in 1985.

The Borchards started the business in 1973 in a 16-by-30-foot space in Big Bear Lake, Calif. Terry thought of the Long Ear name with the thought that the longer folks listen to music, the more they'll like it.

The couple are self-described "long hairs" — not hippies — because long hairs work for a living, Deon said.

"We met in 1971 and got married three months later," she said. "It was love at first sight. We met over music. We went to 40 concerts during one summer, and we still love going to them."

The love tradition has continued at The Long Ear. Long-time Manager Nick Fritze met his wife, Chelsea, there after she came in as a customer. She is now another manager at the business.

"They fell in love and the rest is musical history," Deon said. "It's a great place to meet friends and listen to music. We still play the 'Name that Tune' game."

She said many of the customers who used to come into the business with their parents are now bringing their children in.

"We have such a great customer base," she said. "We hear that the first place where people drive to (after getting their license) is here after they used to ride their bikes to the store. I know. They've backed into my car. Those are badges of honor."

The business used to focus solely on music, but when downloading cut into profits, it was forced to diversify into also selling "nifty-type stuff" such as posters, lamps, incense, tapestries, clothing and figurines.

"We tried to make the store a destination for shopping where you can buy things you can't find anywhere else," Borchard said.

Record sales have also rebounded, she said.

"More than half of the people buying vinyl are in their early 30s or younger," she said. "Vinyl sounds so much better than it used to."

Borchard said the business will move from a 2,200-square-foot building to one that's 3,700 square feet. In addition to having more space for music and other merchandise, the new location will have a changing room.

The store has more than 19,000 individual CD titles. It will hold a 25-percent-off moving sale Thursday through Saturday that excludes new music and items already on sale.

Hours are 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.