Sad news:

Cactus Music & Video, one of Houston’s best-loved and best-stocked independent music retailers, will close on March 31.

General manager Quinn Bishop announced the closing in a letter today.

Several reasons for the closing were cited. On the business side, Bishop’s letter mentioned industry-wide problems that have plagued the music business: high list prices and sluggish CD sales due to downloading, file-sharing and burning; and competition from larger retailers like Best Buy, which can afford to sell CDs as a loss-leader. Cactus’ video-rental service also experienced lagging business as well.

Another cause is the retirement of Bud and Don Daily, who owned the store. The Daily brothers’ father H.W. “Pappy” Daily was a legendary figure in Texas and Houston music. He got his music biz start in jukebox distribution in the 1930s and opened one of the first record retail outlets in the region.

The elder Daily chased other music-related pursuits and sold Cactus to his sons in 1959.

Cactus grew into a small retail chain, though, as Bishop mentioned in his letter, it endured difficult times including flooding during Tropical Storm Allison. Through it all, it remained a respected and well-run indie, with knowledgable staff and diverse stock that always had room for local talent.

“We appreciate your understanding for how difficult it can be for an independent music store,” Bishop wrote. “Thank you for looking out for us and for your efforts which established us as the “go-to” store in the Houston market.”

–from chron.com