By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Finders Records has found a buyer – someone with a respect for nostalgia and an ability to keep the music playing at the downtown Bowling Green institution.
When Greg Halamay opened the record shop in Bowling Green in 1971 it didn’t have a name. His friends offered several suggestions. “But I didn’t really care for any of them.”
Then one day, he got a publication in the mail called “Find Catalog” – designed to help customers locate hard to find items. Halamay called the “Find” office in California and asked if he could use the name.
“They were very congenial,” he said.
Halamay settled on “Finders” and built the downtown store into an icon that drew customers from coast to coast. Over 52 years, he operated Finders Records which had grown into a must-visit shop for people in search of musical memories.
The shop started with vinyl records, moved onto CDs, then returned to vinyl for the revival of records. At one time, there were five Finders shops in the region, but by the time it closed, the BG shop was the last one standing.
When he decided to retire in 2023, Halamay couldn’t find an acceptable buyer, someone who would keep the vinyl spinning. For nearly three years, the shop at 128 N. Main St. has been closed up, with its inventory sitting in silence.
Then he found the answer to his dilemma in Ammar Mufleh, an investor with a soft spot for nostalgia and a solid background in business. On Thursday, the property, business, inventory, name and trademark were sold to Mufleh.
The day was bittersweet, said Halamay.
“It’s been bittersweet ever since I closed it.” But working there since age 19, six to seven days a week was too much for Halamay, who knew no other way to work.
On Friday, he was feeling relief – for himself, the downtown, the Bowling Green community, and customers across the country.
“I’m really happy the store will be revitalized,” Halamay said. “Finding the right buyer is not always the easiest task,” especially when the business is highly specialized.
There will be some changes, Halamay said. “But the entire space will still be a record business. It’s heartening for me to know the store will continue.”
Mufleh is also thrilled to keep the turntables spinning.
“We’re excited to keep the legacy going,” he said. “We want to revive Finders.”
The just under 7,000 square feet of the store will continue to be dedicated to music, maintaining the “same vibe, same energy,” Mufleh said.
“We’ll keep the cool retro vibe. I don’t want to try to freshen it up,” he said.
Mufleh expects his team to get up to speed at the store, in time for a grand re-opening in late August.
“I’m going to be a good steward of the foundation Greg has laid,” Mufleh said. “I definitely appreciate what Greg has done in the community,” including his service on the Downtown Special Improvement District Board.
“I’ll keep the integrity of what Greg and his father started in 1971,” Mufleh said. “He’s passing it on to someone who’s going to take care of it.”
Halamay has had a long-term relationship with Mufleh, who works around the world with commercial and industrial real estate acquisitions and investments. Mufleh has proven his deep appreciation for historic buildings and businesses, with the purchase of Finders not being his first endeavor to preserve bits of history in downtown Bowling Green.
Mufleh purchased the long-closed Cla-Zel Theater – across the street from Finders in 2007.
“The theater’s important to me,” Mufleh said. “I love this old structure.”
When Mufleh bought the theater – which turned 100 years old this year – he went way beyond his budget to renovate the building, bringing in artisans to revive the character of the theater.
“I’ve always had a penchant for film. It was decrepit at best,” he said of the downtown site. “But it was a cool theater with really cool bones.”
The integrity of the structure remains solid, he said. “It’s built like a bunker.”
Last year, Mufleh teamed with Broc Curry, a native of Bowling Green, to turn the historic structure into a venue for entertainment – concerts, movies and community gatherings. Mufleh said Curry’s vision for the site is bringing in a great variety of concerts – which is bringing in a lot of visitors to the downtown.
“This is an event center. It’s not a college bar,” Mufleh said. “Bowling Green offers a really unique community” with a unified historic downtown.
Though there have been multiple business operators of the space over the last 18 years, Mufleh just can’t part with the Cla-Zel. “I still call myself the custodian,” he said. “It’s a place that will provide some new memories for folks.”
And now, his investment in Finders will bring back old memories and create new ones at the historic record store.
Halamay has confidence that the shop still has dedicated followers that will flock back to the business.
“That store has a great draw, from all directions,” he said. “Those customers will be ecstatic.”
And just in case Halamay gets the itch to spin more vinyl, the deal with Mufleh is that he is welcome to come back occasionally.
“I can be an adviser as much as I’m needed,” he said.
