Update: Last Vestige in Saratoga

In the past week, much has been made of the impending closing of the Last Vestige Music Shop at 437 Broadway in Saratoga Springs.

Owner Jim Furlong – who also owns and operates the original Last Vestige Music Shop at 173 Quail Street in Albany – today confirmed that the Saratoga store will be shuttering its doors.

But exactly when that happens – and what happens next – is still up in the air, however.

“Yes, I’m ending my tenure in Saratoga,” Furlong says. “After 11 years, I decided this summer that I want to scale back and concentrate on one shop. As I own the building on Quail (Street in Albany) and the majority of retail and mail order action happens there – and now that I’m 56 – it’s time.

“The primary reasons I’m leaving is to concentrate on the original shop and to find more time for my very dormant creative juices.”

Another reason boils down to simple economics.

“The profitability of the ‘Toga shop, while still there, has diminished the last two years,” he explains, “partially because of the economy, the drop in CD/DVD sales and the Racino gambling at the track, which now keeps the July and August street traffic lower than it used to be.”

Most of the recent local news reports have claimed that Last Vestige will be closing in January, and that store manager Brittany Nasser is hoping to open her own record store at the same location.

Furlong is supportive of the 24-year-old Nasser in her bid. “I hoped she would (start her own shop), as I feel bad leaving ‘Toga without a record store,” he says.

But he also says that no deals have been finalized yet. His lease on the Last Vestige store in Saratoga Springs runs out in four months.

“So I may still be there ’til April 30,” Furlong says.