After a 15-year presence in Downtown Long Beach at 4th Street and Elm Avenue, music and record stalwart Fingerprints Music will be shuttering its doors in order to move to a much more expansive space in Bixby Knolls come April. Located at 3811 Atlantic Ave., the newer space willl have more freedom for the music shop to do what it always does. Sell records. Host in-store performances. And a provide a space that is as accessible as possible to its patrons.
“I go where the people go,” owner Rand Foster said. “I’ve been extremely fortunate—something I don’t dismiss—but I am constantly on the lookout for the next opportunity to do something cool. And honestly—this new space? It’s incredible.”
The evolution of cities and their cores brought Fingerprints to a move, reflecting a larger part of its story.
Fingerprints Music, no matter how it is diced, is a destination space that happily moves with evolution. And such a destination space in SoCal means accommodation on a level where, well, the people who want to access it can easily do so. It marked why the space originally moved from Belmont Shore: Rand ultimately felt like he was “paying the price” for the neighborhood’s sought-after foot traffic only to have patrons simply pass by. Which signaled to Rand that Fingerprints wasn’t in its most viable space.
“When people saw the store in Downtown Long Beach, they realized, ‘Oh. Got it. This makes total sense,'” Rand said. “And I know people, once they step into our new store, will have the same reaction.”
Across the past decade, the DTLB location of Fingerprints has seen construction on nearly every major parcel surrounding, including the former lot directly to its east. Slowly but surely, its ability to welcome travelers from afar became significantly stifled with to a decrease in parking, according to Rand.
“Any downtown is going to have issues; I fully grasp why the city has accommodated development,” Rand said. “I, however, don’t think one particularly neighborhood is removed from those concerns more than any other. With Downtown [Long Beach], I feel we have a density issue that isn’t necessarily geared toward the success of small businesses like Fingerprints… I think the city has worked really hard to appeal to developers but it comes at the cost of many small businesses. It doesn’t necessarily have to be that way.”
With its last in-store show at its DTLB location, Fingerprints is ready to take dive into its new space.
With a roster that has included everyone from Thom Yorke and Grimes to Foo Fighters and Tegan & Sara, Fingerprints has a lush, outright rich history of in-store performances that have made it a staple in the larger music community. Artists ranging from Taylor Swift to Lady Gaga have sent the store signed copies of their records while acts like the aforementioned rever the space.
On Feb. 28, Banks welcomed the Downtown space’s last in-store performance and it was clear that Rand was speaking—likely without much audience knowledge—as to why the show was so important.
“It was hard to not to make a big deal while I was talking up there, despite how happy she was to be there,” Rand said. “A lot of my intro and outro was coded because I was trying to say what I couldn’t say. Tt was the last time we would have that in that space and, if being honest, I wanted to cry. But assured: the new space is going to be even more impressive.”
There’s, oh, much more to come for the famed record shop.
When it comes to their new space, Rand assures that Fingerprints has many more missions. One is to directly connect with its new neighborhood, with Rand planning on doing what he does best: Showing up face-to-face to talk about his store’s presence in a community. New ideas as to what the future of Fingerprints brings.
But for now? It is to let the music play for just a little while longer in Downtown.
“Downtown, for me and for the collective spirit of the store, will always be a part of Downtown Long Beach,” Rand said. “There’s no question about that. As for its new home, we expect it to be woven into Bixby Knolls with the same care.”
Fingerprints will be relocating to 3811 Atlantic Ave. in the beginning weeks of April.
