Del Ray record store closed after flooding damages hundreds of vinyl records
Crooked Beat owner says water rose for hours; seeks legal counsel
Water covered the floor of Crooked Beat Records on Sunday as owner Bill Daly stood in several inches of flooding, documenting hundreds of damaged vinyl records.
“The whole store is several inches deep. We have extensive damage,” Daly said in a video posted to Instagram. “The water still keeps rising.”
The independent record store, located in the basement level of 2417 Mt. Vernon Ave., closed indefinitely after flooding that began Saturday following heavy rains on Saturday.
Daly said the landlord sent a maintenance team more than four hours before he recorded the video. The crew left after saying they would submit a work order, he said.
“A plumber was here and he left. The fire department was here and they left for now, but it’s starting to rise,” Daly said. “Where it’s going to start hitting the electrical currents. We’ve got a lot of issues.”
The flooding spread beyond the store into the hallway and an adjacent vacant retail space, Daly said.
Among the damaged inventory: a Pink Floyd box set, a rare Bob Dylan record and an Echo and the Bunnymen album.
“There’s hundreds and hundreds of them damaged,” Daly said.
The store said it is seeking legal representation licensed in Virginia. Daly’s current attorney practices only in D.C. and Maryland, where Crooked Beat previously operated.
Community members reached out to the store on social media with offers to help, but Daly said assistance isn’t practical while water continues entering the space.
“We appreciate the offer, but the water keeps coming in,” he said. “It’s like bailing a sinking ship.”
Crooked Beat opened at its Del Ray location in July 2023 after relocating from Old Town North, where its previous building was slated for demolition. Daly founded the store in 1997 in Raleigh, North Carolina, and operated in D.C.’s Adams Morgan neighborhood for 12 years before moving to Alexandria in 2016.
The store has not announced when it expects to reopen. Crooked Beat did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment.
