Ellicott City, Maryland Record Shop Disaster Recovery

I am writing to all of you in order to help a friend – Jason McMillan -- that lost his business in the July 30th Ellicott City flood. He runs a record shop specializing in vinyl and also buys and sells vintage audio equipment as a side line. The Ellicott City flood literally took out the front of his store and destroyed approximately 16,000 LPs out of an inventory of 20,000 pieces that took him two years to collect.

Vintage equipment was ruined, his point-of-sale system ruined, any wood finishes damaged beyond use -- not to mention mold that decided it was cool place to live while the building was condemned. The building structure was damaged to the tune of needing over $30,000 worth of repairs not including finishes.

To add insult to injury the insurance company has denied his claim with the excuse that the original application was written on the wrong form submitted by the insurance agent. Since the flood insurance was actually provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) where they used an insurance company to underwrite the policy, he is currently waiting on a decision from FEMA before getting an attorney involved. In the meantime he is slowly getting things back to normal and exhausting his savings in the process. This has been his life now since July 30 the date of the event.

He and his wife live above the store and had to rent a furnished apartment until his building was deemed habitable again.

I know that a large number of audiophiles have moved away from vinyl and moved on to CD, SACD, or downloads. I am looking for LP donations (or money donations) to help him restore his inventory and get back on his feet. His customer base was loyal and varied in terms of music ranging from Rock to classical with special interests in Jazz. So – whatever you have I am sure it is good condition and worthy of a second audiophile home.

Having said that, Jason will still have to seek out collections for the shop and it would be appreciated if you at least give him right-of-refusal to buy your collection if you cannot just donate your LPs or cash.

Please send your help (or request for quotation) directly to Jason. His contact information is as follows:

Jason B. McMillan

8026 Main St.

Ellicott City, MD 21043

301-395-2696 (cell)

410-696-2931 (store)

eMail: musicmattersmd@gmail.com

Jason is a good guy with a good heart and I know any donations will be most appreciated.

Thank you!