Electric Fetus
The Electric Fetus is a record store with locations in Minneapolis and Duluth. Minnesota Public Radio said of the Electric Fetus that it is "widely regarded as the pre-eminent indie record store in Minnesota." Owner Keith Covart estimates that the store has an inventory of approximately 50,000 titles.
The store was founded in June 1968 by partners Dan Foley and Ron Korsh. Several months after opening Korsh sold his half of the enterprise to Keith Covart, who also obtained Foley's half about ten years later. Operations began in 1968 when Korsh rented a storefront in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood, then the Haight-Ashbury of Minneapolis. In 1972 the business moved to its present location on the corner of 4th Avenue and Franklin. A definitive history of the store was written in 2006 by Penny Peterson and Charlene Roise: "A History of the Electric Fetus" as prepared for the Greater Twin Cities Blues Music Society.
The Electric Fetus Onestop is the wholesale distribution portion of the Electric Fetus. It has "a huge emphasis on local music and aims to provide an outlet for local musicians / bands to consign their CDs or records to be available for distribution through the One Stop. The One Stop's primary focus is local indie record stores and secondly national Independent Record Stores." The Electric Fetus Onestop is located in the basement of The Electric Fetus in Minneapolis and is not open to the public.
The Minneapolis Electric Fetus suffered some minor damage from an F0 tornado on August 19, 2009.
Trivia
- National Lampoon, among others, singled out the Electric Fetus as the worst name for a business.
- Bazaar magazine called the Electric Fetus one of the "best places in America to shop."[2]
- Ringo Starr wore an Electric Fetus print shirt to the 2010 Grammy Awards.
- This was among the last places Prince visited five days before his death on April 21, 2016.
References
- ^ Roberts, Chris (2004-07-03). "Whither the indie record store?". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved 2006-01-01.
- ^ a "Electric Fetus Serves Eclectic Customers For 30 Years". Sounding Board. July 1998. Archived from the original on 2005-12-16. Retrieved 2006-01-01.
- ^ Lambert, Brian (February 2007). "House of Music". Mpls St Paul Magazine. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
External links
- Electric Fetus Homepage
- Electric Fetus page on StylusCity
- Myspace: Electric Fetus Onestop
- Myspace: Electric Fetus, Saint Cloud
Articles
- A History of the Electric Fetus
- Forty years of the Electric Fetus
- The Electric Fetus at Placeography
- "Naked Fetus" promotion: March 25, 1972
521 Cedar Avenue South
514 Cedar Avenue South
2000 4th Avenue South
Coordinates: 44°57′44.5″N 93°16′13.5″W / 44.962361°N 93.270417°W