CD Warehouse, a shop at 8154 Springboro Pike where albums can be sold by their owners, only had three of Jackson’s albums in stock before his death and they sold quickly after his death, manager Alisha Parks said.
Jarrod Parke, assistant manager at FYE in the Dayton Mall, said, “We’re completely out. As soon as the news broke, 400 dollars worth of albums were sold. Now, everyone is coming in and special ordering.”
Dale Walton, manager of Gem City Records in the Oregon District, said the store should have more Jackson albums by the middle of next week. “We ordered in an hour after his death,” Walton said. “We had 20 calls (Friday) morning asking if we have any Michael Jackson. It’s amazing. It’s sad. An icon is gone.”
Bev Savage, former co-owner of Dingleberry’s before the store closed in 2006, remembers when Jackson was spotted in the store’s Miamisburg-Centerville Road location around the time of his 1979 release of “Off the Wall.” Jackson was browsing the classical section.
“One of our employees noticed him and said ‘I think that’s Michael Jackson!’ He ran up and got him to autograph the “Off the Wall” album,” said Savage. Jackson left the store with a few vinyl albums.
Jackson sold 750 million albums worldwide. According to Billboard.com, the “Thriller” album alone was on their charts for more two years and spent 37 nonconsecutive weeks in the No. 1 position. The album eventually became the best-selling album of all time with 25 million copies sold in the U.S. with another 20 million sold overseas.
As of Friday, the first 15 spots on Amazon’s Top Sellers list are occupied by Jackson albums with “Thriller 25” topping the chart.
Jackson was also the first entertainer to sell more than 100 million albums outside the U.S.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-9370 or hbealer@Dayton DailyNews.com.
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