Eclectic Media Rodeo Opens in Ridgecrest

There is an overall feeling of grooviness when one walks into Media Rodeo on 519 NE 165th Street in Shoreline. An old pinball machine, funky rugs, and folk music playing in the background adds to the retro vibe.

“I wanted to give the place a fun atmosphere,” the owner, Brandon Ackerman, said.

He opened Media Rodeo on August 7 after eight years of running a business online, selling, trading and buying anything music and media related on Craigslist and eBay.  He now hopes to run the same business but in an actual space.

After collecting for so long he had many movies, records, DVDs, video games and much more that he filled his entire basement and a storage unit.  

“I felt like the next step was to open a store, “ he said.

After three weeks of long days, often stretching into the nights, Ackerman filled his small store, he calls ‘the rectangle’, with hundreds of movies, music and video games. He has nearly everything one could want, from newer DVDs to old 16mm films. His favorites are the old B or horror movies that are sort of outlandish verging on obscure.

“I listen to it all kinds of music but 80s may be up in the top five now, like Alphaville, Big In Japan,” he said.

Of course he also carries a broad collection of music, CDs, CDV (video CD), and records. Any video game junkie would be in heaven, surrounded by Nintendo, Arcadia, Sega Virtual Boy, ColecoVision and much more.

“The first thing I sold at the store was a box set MADtv Season 1,’ he said.

Ackerman is from Washington and has spent 20 of his 30 years in Shoreline. He has a small town sort of feel about him. He’s soft spoken and keeps to himself.  He and his wife live near by and his goal was to maintain this closeness between work and home.

There is this same sort of feeling within the store. A feeling of home with Ackerman’s personal style added to the atmosphere.

Ackerman explains that he had been to many music and video stores and they all seemed like a factory. He wanted Media Rodeo to feel more comfortable, so people would come in and browse the huge collection of records, sample a video on the TV he has set up in the corner, and maybe even play a game of pin ball. All that’s missing is a popcorn machine.

The store is still a work in progress. 

“I’m putting all the shelves together. I already did the lighting and added a temporary wall,” Ackerman said.

Besides making the atmosphere engaging and fun he also spent a lot of time figuring out how to pack everything into such a small space and make it easy for customers to find what they are looking for, discover something new, and trade or sell their own items. He’s hoping that the store will eventually be more profitable then his online trade and sell business. Right now he is doing both.

The hardest thing is advertising he admits. He does have a Facebook page and is working on a Web site. He would love to have an advertisement in the The Stranger and maybe start sponsoring music events and trading expos. He’s also thought of donating to KEXP so they drop a plug for his business on the air.

“The first week only one or two people came in but more and more people are stopping by and checking out the store. I’m feeling more positive about it now,” he said.