Rasputin Music on Powell Street in S.F. abruptly closes

Brenda Ferguson (left) and Kathryn Johnson scoop up Michael Jackson CDs at Rasputin's Records on Powell Street in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, June 25, 2009 after word spread of the pop star's death. Brenda Ferguson (left) and Kathryn Johnson scoop up Michael Jackson CDs at Rasputin's Records on Powell Street in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, June 25, 2009 after word spread of the pop star's death. Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Rasputin Music on Powell Street in S.F. abruptly closes 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

Rasputin Music, the largest chain of record stores in the Bay Area, has just closed its 69 Powell Street location in San Francisco, near the cable car turnaround.

With this shuttering, the company, which was founded in Berkeley in 1971 by Ken Sarachan, only retains one more location in San Francisco, in the Upper Haight.

The Powell Street location, like many other buildings in the city, had a quirky personality. It became famous for having its own elevator operator, and for boasting five stories of music, books, and DVDs — one of which served as a mezzanine for clothing and other merchandise.

News of the store's fate was posted on Reddit Wednesday evening by a now former employee. The store's voicemail greeting has already been updated to reflect the closure. "We regret to inform you that the Rasputin Powell location is no longer open for business," it says. "We appreciate your patronage and we still have our store on Haight Street at 1672 that will continue to remain open. Thank you for shopping at Rasputin Powell."

This is the second prominent record store to close in San Francisco since last summer, when Streetlight Records shuttered its Market Street location after 35 years in operation.

Unlike Streetlight, however, many patrons have mixed feelings about the store's legacy. One Redditor stated it "made the defunct Tower Records look like they really had their s— together."

"Rasputin's owner...has been feuding with the people who started Amoeba (his ex-employees) for more than two decades," another wrote, echoing a 2015 report by the East Bay Express. "Any time they open a new store he opens something as close as possible to their location."

Nevertheless, staff members are bemoaning the end of its downtown tenancy.

"I loved seeing different people come together through a love of music and film. All of our little rituals we developed over the years," the original Reddit poster added, quoting a co-worker. "So many stories. Mostly about angry, aggressive, smelly, stupid humans we dealt with daily, but they were things unique to us, and our particular environment. I worked there nine years. It becomes home. A mad, dysfunctional home."

The other remaining Rasputin locations remain open. For more information, visit their site.