Walla Walla's Hot Poop marks 35 years as state's oldest independent record shop

By Franny White, Herald staff writer

WALLA WALLA -- Walk into the Hot Poop record store on Walla Walla's Main Street, and you can't help but briefly stand still in shock.

Your surprised eyes scan endless, semi-organized rows of compact discs, records, cassettes and, yes, even eight track tapes.

It may be crowded and overwhelming, but it's oddly comforting. And definitely intriguing.

In between battered cardboard boxes of overflow albums are random posters, shiny new guitars, band T-shirts, gag gifts, music memorabilia and lots more.

A trip upstairs reveals top-of-the-line widescreen TV sets for sale alongside piles of dusty stereo receivers that appear two decades past their prime.

Without a doubt, Hot Poop is quirky. But it's a mainstay in small-town Walla Walla. Known as Washington's oldest independent record store, it celebrated 35 years earlier this month.

But long-haired Jim McGuinn, the store's owner, is hesitant to make much of the landmark anniversary.

"I don't feel overly proud," McGuinn said in an uncharacteristically serious tone. "I still feel a little self-pity. I think we should be making money, and we're just edging by."

McGuinn opened Hot Poop -- word play from the phrase "hot pop" -- at age 23 after moving to Walla Walla from the San Diego area.

The Dead Head started the store with a basic business plan: Sell only music he liked. He considered an ad campaign that read, "We don't sell Donny Osmond."

"But now I can't do that, I'd starve by that standard," he joked.

The store now carries punk, rap, classic rock, polka and then some.

Eager to satisfy his customers, McGuinn is known to shave prices for regulars or even Hot Poop virgins who strike his fancy. And whenever someone is looking for something he doesn't have, McGuinn jumps at the opportunity to order it.

His propensity to please created Hot Poop's ever-expanding collection. But it also added to the store's overhead.

"I think I'm that dumb," he said with a smile.

The store's profit margin may be slim, but its three knowledgeable, passionate employees make it a haven for music lovers.

Kathy Kelly of Milton-Freewater, who has purchased TVs, speakers and DVD players there for years, said her children always stop by whenever they visit her from out of town.

"You can get just anything you want here," she said. "The service is great."

Hot Poop also is a welcome home to Walla Walla's counter-culture crowd, said frequent visitor Jared Faircloth, who is known as "Limey" for his formerly green hair.

"It's one of the most comfortable places in town," he said. "There's not a lot of places for the geeks and misfits."

Faircloth wandered into the store to replace a pair of ailing earbuds and ended up dawdling in a back room, where he picked freeform tunes on one of Hot Poop's colorfully lacquered guitars for sale.

McGuinn may not have millions in the bank, but the store and its eclectic customers have enriched his soul.

"My son told me that a lot of his friends make two times the money and they work really hard," McGuinn said of his son, Mike, 26, who also works at the store.

"They get up at six in the morning and they hate their jobs and they hate their bosses. My son said he hates his boss, but loves the work. ... If it wasn't my store, I'd be in here asking for a job."

Is McGuinn aiming for another 35 years behind Hot Poop's cluttered counter? He's unsure.

"I'd be the bionic man," he said. But, on the other hand, "I feel like the last stud in the old folks home with a year's supply of Viagra. I feel I'm needed. I know I'm needed."

And he could be needed more, if the big box stores he competes against move away from music sales.

"Best Buy and Wal-Mart are shrinking their music sections," said the junior McGuinn "There's no money in it. It's for free on the Internet."

Mike, who practically grew up inside Hot Poop, said the family store has a niche to fill. Already, Kmart and Wal-Mart employees refer customers looking for oddball or sold-out albums to Hot Poop.

You can find Hot Poop, self-described as "Walla Walla's Only Bing-Bang Stereo-Video shop," open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday at 210 E. Main St.

-- On the Net: www.hotpoop.com

* Franny White: 509-582-1542; fwhite@tricityherald.com

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Sunday, Dec. 07, 2008

Walla Walla's Hot Poop marks 35 years as state's oldest independent record shop

By Franny White, Herald staff writer