Legendary downtown electronics and music store J&R will close its doors Thursday, the owners said Wednesday, as they announced that their block-long building on Park Row was to undergo a major renovation.
Owners Joe and Rachelle Friedman said they were snapping the padlock “so that we can rebuild this location into what we hope will be an unprecedented retailing concept and social mecca.
“A lot has changed in these 43 years, including not only the way we listen to music and the technology products we sell, but the way people shop and socialize,” the Friedmans said in a statement.
They released a sketch of the planned renovated block — labeled only “2015” — located near City Hall in lower Manhattan.
“As part of these evolutions, we, too, have to continue to adapt to the technology, retailing and real-estate trends,” their statement read.
The store opened as a small record shop in the basement of the building in 1971.