CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Local record stores saw business pick up minutes after the world learned of music legend Prince's passing.
The owner of Repo Records and Collectibles in Charlotte said 24 minutes after Prince's death, he sold "Purple Rain" and "1999" records.
"In a matter of hours, we sold $350 worth in Prince records and CDs," said Jimmy Parker, owner of Repo Records.
Parker had Prince's music playing in the store throughout the day Thursday.
"It's just devastating," said Steve Hoelderlin, who works at Repo and is a huge fan of Prince. "Really, really confused about it, but I'm a big fan."
He grew up listening to Prince's music and said he always admired Prince for pushing the envelope.
"Prince has always pushed the limits with everything," he said. "Pushing pop music with all of his interesting artwork, themes, song titles."
Employees at Lunchbox Records also saw a spike in sales where they sold out of Prince's records.
Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
