Right on the heels of Sonic Boom's announcement that it's being forced to change locations this summer, Queen Street's Criminal Records has revealed that it'll be closing its doors for good. At last check, the store had renovations planned, but a note on its MySpace page explains that "due to failed negotiations and reasons of a very personal nature, Criminal Records will be canceling our plans to renovate and instead will be closing our doors."

As was the case with Sonic Boom's announcement, ownership claims that the move is not related to poor sales. "We hope you all understand that this has nothing to do with poor business, as we have enjoyed record sales that have gone up every single year," reads the at times emotional notice of closure.

Vinyl fans won't have that long to relish the presence of the store, as it plans on closing up shop by the end of July. In the lead up until then, there will be a liquidation sale of all of the store's stock. That, I suppose, is a small silver lining. Despite the gloomy news, staff have put on a brave face and invite record lovers to take advantage of the clear-out. "We hope you will all come by to say your goodbyes and take part in some amazing record sales. As they say, "everything must go!" and "all good things must come to an end."