Over the span of 22 years, independent record store Megatunes left an indelible mark on its Calgary and Edmonton music scenes.
In 1988, Mike and Joni Pleau, as well as business partner Kevin Roe, opened the flagship store on Calgary’s 17th Avenue S.W., and later an Edmonton location on Whyte Avenue.
For two decades, they defied the odds, competing against both corporate music store behemoths and evolving music consumption habits, by supporting local talent.
But in 2008, the store suffered a major setback with the sudden death of Mike Pleau. Two years later, his wife Joni closed both locations.
Fast Forward Weekly writer Jesse Locke, a former Megatunes employee, says chronicling the store’s final days and revisiting its roots was bittersweet.
“Throughout a series of emotionally charged interviews with owner Joni Pleau, and in digging through the scrapbook of photos she had collected during 22 years in business, I feel I gained a better understanding of how they carved out a niche,” says Locke, whose Fast Forward Weekly cover story with photographer Andy Nichols was published July 15, 2010.
The Canadian Community Newspaper Awards has honoured Fast Forward Weekly with the Best Multimedia Feature award for the coverage of Megatunes.
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