Michigan WhereHouse Records

This page is dedicated to Michigan WhereHouse Records. The best independent record stores in Michigan during the 70's, 80's & 90's!!! The first WhereHouse Records opened back in 1976 in Ann Arbor, started by Dennis King and Rusty (Armstrong?)...store #1. After the Ann Arbor store, Dennis approached the owner of Roots Shoe store in the M.A.C. Mall in East Lansing.... the owner let Dennis set up 3 crates of LP's so he could sell music....His LP sales quickly took off and in no time half of the shoe store's inventory was music product. Eventually Dennis expanded to the space next to the shoe store and WHR #2 was born!!! The space was tight, packed with LP's, Cassettes and other music related accessories. By 1983, there was a need for a bigger space....Discount Records on the corner of Charles and Grand River was closing, so store #2 moved to it's new home in the fall of 83. Business was so strong that Dennis continued opening up locations throughout the early to mid 80's. Vinyl was "KING" until about late 1986/ early 1987....then the stores were flooded with this crazy new format called compact discs! The stores shifted from vinyl to almost all CD's in about 10 months time. Jeff Morse became co-owner with Dennis & Lessee King in the 80's....A second East Lansing location opened in 1988 called "East Oak Square" #6, which was across the street from Coral Gables. Eventually (early to mid 90's) the East Lansing store (which at that point became store #9), moved to a new space located above Jocundry's next to the Peanut Barrel...there was also a classical store in East Lansing for a short period of time. "Street Driven Music" opened up in East Lansing, which was a WhereHouse concept store offering used and budget line CD's. There were other locations that opened and closed over the years....locations even changed numbers (feel free to help clarify any of the details that are not correct). The final 8 store locations / store numbers were ~ #1 Jackson, #2 Ann Arbor, #3 Lansing (South Cedar), #4 Mt. Pleasant, #5 Saginaw, #6 East Lansing (East Oak Square), #8 Big Rapids, #9 East Lansing (Above Jocundry's), #10 Lansing (Oakland / MLK). Sales dwindled in the late 90's due to the internet and file sharing (but we wont go into that here).....The last WhereHouse unfortunately closed in February 2001. The WhereHouse Records on W. Saginaw became JAM Music in 1998 (owned by Jeff Morse), but also rang up it's last CD sale in June 2006. This page is for all those who worked there, shopped at and just admired how great these stores were....please join us to reminisce about the good old record store days. Record stores just didnt get any better than this!!! If you have any stories or pictures to share, please feel free to join us here at the Where House Records tribute page. And to all past WhereHouse Records employees....let us know what years you worked for WHR and which store.... Also, if any of the details are not quite right, send a message .....we would appreciate the help!! The Top friends spaces are filled with almost all former WHR employee's....Let us know who you are to be added to the "Heros" section of the page.(Please note that Michigan WhereHouse Records was 8 independently owned stores and not part of the California Where House Records chain of stores)