It's been more than seven months since word came down that Hillsborough Street's Bell Tower block was going to be leveled to make way for a hotel. But so far, that has not come to pass. The good part of that is that Schoolkids Records and Sadlack's are both still standing; and they probably will be for at least another year as the process drags on.

Meantime, Schoolkids has a new owner -- Stephen Judge, who first went to work for the store in 1990 while he was a student at NC State. Among many other things since then, Judge managed a major-label band, worked for Daniel Lanois' management company and started a record label, Second Motion Records. He'll continue to operate Second Motion as well as the music publication Blurt magazine alongside Schoolkids.

Judge is taking over for previous owner Mike Phillips, who started Schoolkids nearly four decades ago in Chapel Hill. After 39 years of riding the industry's rise and fall, Phillips decided it was finally time for him to cut it loose.

"I just got sick of it," says Phillips. "So I'm off to greener pastures. Stephen is in charge now and we'll see what happens."

The transfer of ownership is just in time for Saturday's Record Store Day festivities, which will include live performances by Chris Stamey, Dexter Romweber and others as well as exclusive records from acts including Phish, Flaming Lips and Black Keys. Record Store Day is a major occasion for what's left of the record retail business, which is still in a struggle for survival in a changing landscape. Back in the 1990s, one of Schoolkids' biggest sellers was Dave Matthews Band. But Judge says the store doesn't even bother stocking Matthews' biggest album anymore.

"We sold a live album of his the other day and it was the first Dave Matthews we'd sold in years," Judge says. "So that business is gone, all online now. You replace it by making sure you have the catalogs of Bowerbirds or Fun, bands that are bubbling and growing. We can't keep everything in stock anymore, unfortunately."

As to when and where Schoolkids might have to move, Judge plans to start looking around for potential new spaces over the summer.

"I'd love to stay here permanently," Judge says. "I love this space, although it has some space and parking limitations. But that's Hillsborough Street."

For more on Judge and Schoolkids, see this story from Friday's paper.

It's already been a rough summer for local-music landmarks, and that got even worse with the recent announcement that a huge hotel is slated to go up on the Bell Tower block of Hillsborough Street. NC State University owns the land, and if this comes to pass, it will displace both Sadlack's and Schoolkids Records.

It's not good to lose live-music clubs, but losing the last big independent store in Raleigh might be even worse. For the time being, Schoolkids should be around at least until its lease runs out next February. And there's a chance it might hang in there a bit longer than that, given how long the hotel project should take to pull together.

"I'd say next summer will look the same as this summer on that block," NCSU director of real estate Ralph Recchie said while the university was in the process of negotiating the deal last month. "Fall of 2012, you might see some groundbreaking. But that's an ambitious timetable that assumes no difficulties in zoning or financing, and no further blips in the economy. Our original goal was for this to be under construction at the same time the street was under construction, which obviously didn't happen."

Ah yes, the street construction. Putting a traffic circle on Hillsborough at the Bell Tower was suppose to make it safer and revitalize businesses in the vicinity. But Schoolkids manager Ric Culross says that the traffic circle has been a disaster for the store.

"When we moved to this site two-and-a-half years ago, at first we were doing a 20-percent increase in business over the previous location," Culross says. "Then they put the barrels up, started working on the street and we've never come close to that since. Every day, at least one person walks into the store and says, 'This is the first time I've been back here since they redid the street and it's also the last, because of that traffic circle.' It has six wrecks a month, which surprised city planners. I'm surprised it's not more."

As to what happens after Schoolkids' time on the Bell Tower lot is up, owner Mike Phillips couldn't be blamed if he threw in the towell. The store has struggled along with the rest of the music-retail industry, and Phillips has hinted more than once that he's ready to give up. But Culross says that Phillips might have something else in mind -- a roots move of sorts.

"Mike has said he'd like to stay on Hillsborough and go back to the original site where he first started," Culross says. "That was underneath the bowling alley. Based on what the numbers state, with the influx of vinyl sales, we do believe there's a future here. Hope so."

Me, too.

This Saturday is Record Store Day, which celebrates and tries to buck up support for that increasingly rare bird: the independent record store. By now, heck, it's not just independent stores because chain record stores aren't exactly thriving anymore, either. Battered by technological trends and the ongoing weak economy, record stores' long-term prospects are tenunous at best.

But we are blessed in the Triangle to have three good ones. Lots of other places aren't so lucky. Here is a visual representation of that: 40 Sad Portraits of Closed Record Stores.

Don't let that happen here! Support!

ADDENDUM: Raleigh's Schoolkids on Time magazine's Ten Great American Record Shops.

SECOND ADDENDUM (4/17/11): Another good local store, All Day Records in Carrboro.

Most big touring acts that play the Triangle don't stick around for long, usually leaving either as soon as the performance is over or the next day. But Robert Plant spent another day in Raleigh after his Wednesday night show.

There were reports of a sighting at Poole's Diner, and rumors went around town that Plant was going to put in an onstage appearance Thursday night at Slim's. While that didn't happen, he and singer Patty Griffin took a shopping trip to Schoolkids Records, where Plant reportedly bought a compilation of African music and also did a bit of representin'.

"He came in around 6:00 and there were only a few people in here," said Schoolkids employee Kyle Rosko, who took this picture. "One of them left but then came back in and said, 'I've gotta go shake his hand.' But nobody was really bothering them. In fact, a group of three teenagers came in and didn't recognize him."

Blasphemy!

(Thanks to Robert W.)

Schoolkids Records and CD Alley will probably receive a welcome gift on Saturday.

Schoolkids, on Raleigh's Hillsborough Street, and CD Alley, on Chapel Hill's Franklin Street, are among the last independent record outlets in the Triangle. Both are participating in the third annual Record Store Day.

Schoolkids manager Rick Culross expects a big boost in business. Last year, customers were lined up when Schoolkids opened. "We were smacked down the entire day," he said. (That's a good thing.)

"It was like Christmas Eve many years ago," he added.

More than 1,400 record stores worldwide plan to participate in this year's event, started to increase interest as record stores continue to lose business to iTunes and other online sources, and chains such as Walmart and Best Buy.

This year, bands such as REM, Sonic Youth, the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Beastie Boys, the Flaming Lips and Soundgarden are releasing exclusive records. Some of the excitement is driven by fans over 30 who are buying more vinyl records again, Culross said.

Schoolkids also has scheduled performances and signings by the bands Sick Puppies (Noon), Between the Buried and Me (2:30 p.m.), Mastodon (4 p.m.), and Paper Tongues (6 p.m.).

The store opens at 10 a.m. CD Alley opens at 11 a.m.

More or less on-schedule, Schoolkids Records up and moved down Hillsborough Street to its new location this week -- 2114 Hillsborough St., right next to Sadlacks and across from the NC State belltower. The phone number remains the same (919/821-7766).

Even though the new space is smaller, Schookids is still doing free in-store performances. Upcoming shows include The Howlings on Saturday; Annuals on Monday; and Dexter Romweber Duo on Feb. 10.

Schoolkids Records is down to one store in the Triangle, in Raleigh, and that store isn't closing. But it is moving about a mile east on Hillsborough Street, from its current location near Brooks Avenue to the shopping center across from the NC State Bell Tower. The move should happen around mid-January.

"Rent is much cheaper," reports owner Mike Phillips. "Hopefully I can make that work for a while. [It's] a little smaller space, a nice shape; some parking, not a ton. I will keep this thing open as long as I can without losing too much money."

This past spring, Schoolkids' Chapel Hill store closed after a 33-year run on Franklin Street. 2008 has been another tough year for the record industry, with CD sales falling dramatically.