Dave Schmidt of Columbia lives and breathes music. Many years ago, he wanted to have a business that would help foster that same passion in others around the Monroe County.

Some people know him as the bassist in the Father Jack Band; others know him as owner of Main Street Music in Waterloo.

The store had its first days in Columbia in 1993.

“I started it because I thought Columbia could use a music store,” he said. “The last store that sold records in Columbia was in the late 1970s.”

There hadn’t been anything in Columbia to cater to the music lover for several years and
Schmidt wanted to bring music back to the town.

“I quickly realized that diversity was more important,” he said. “I needed more than just records and cassettes to make the business.”

The original music store was “just a tadpole” of what it is today, Schmidt said.

Schmidt outgrew the Columbia location in five years and moved to Waterloo.

“Music’s my life,” he said.

“I play music, I sell music, I listen to music all the time. My viewpoint is: why wouldn’t a store like that work?”

However, Schmidt realized he needed more than the music to make his store work, so it evolved into a business that now offers comic books, cards, gaming materials, toys, science fiction and fantasy paperback books — and even Japanese candy.

“I gravitate toward niche markets,” he said. “I’m the only place around here that carries things like this.”

The gaming aspect of the store has really taken off over the past few years, and has led to Schmidt hosting after-hours tournaments at the store.

A major draw for his younger customers is the “Magic: The Gathering” trading card game.

“For a majority of my items, my customer base is late high school and college students,” he said. “They’re probably around 90 percent male, between the ages of 15 and 25. But I do have several regular female customers.”

Schmidt said four sets of “Magic” cards are released a year, and there’s a tournament coinciding with the releases.

He hosted a late-night tournament last week with the first release of the year, where card enthusiasts played into the night leading up to the midnight release.

“I did small tournaments back in Columbia, but it wasn’t to the extent that it is today,” he said. “Now, we have tournaments every Friday night with about 12 to 16 people.”

In addition to the growing popularity of the card games, Schmidt still sticks with his original music business in many ways.

“I have hundreds of new and used CDs, hundreds of albums, and even cassettes,” he said with a laugh.

He does special orders, but doesn’t carry the newest releases.

“Quite honestly, most of the people who are buying new releases aren’t interested in going into a store,” he said. “Vinyl’s definitely a niche I’m looking back into in this area, too.”

According to NPR, vinyl sales have tripled over the last six years. In the first part of 2014, Billboard counted 6.5 million units sold. Though it’s a pretty niche interest, vinyl still makes up 3.5 percent of overall music sales, according to music tracker Nielsen SoundScan. A decade ago, that figure was 0.2 percent.

Schmidt said that while he hasn’t seen a huge surge in customers looking for vinyl, there are many who like to come in and browse the used and new LPs he has for sale.

“People who are younger, who used to see their parents using record players, are suddenly asking to use those,” Schmidt said.

“To some extent, it gets to be trendy because it’s old.”

He described some customers who will come in and buy used vinyl for the vintage sleeve it comes in to use as decoration.

“I’ve seen people do a whole wall with those,” he said.

He said although he doesn’t think new vinyl is an aspect that can sustain or grow his business, he’s experimenting with it.

“I know that used vinyl at reasonable prices sells well,” he said.

“People come in every week and sift through it.”

Schmidt has lived in this community his entire life and is passionate about providing a fun, safe place for people to hang out.

“If I can provide that for at least a small group of people, I’ve done something,” he said.

For more information on Main Street Music, call 939-4676.