On Friday, July 25, Peter Gianakopoulos, owner of Old School Records, packed up his inventory in cardboard boxes that covered most of the floor at 413 Des Plaines Ave.
Following a legal battle with his landlord, Jack Zayed, and 22 years of selling music in Forest Park, Gianakopoulos moved out that weekend and into a storefront at 709 S. 5th Ave. in Maywood. As of Aug. 1, he said he was still negotiating with the new landlord over his lease, for which he put down a four-month deposit, and is hoping to open on Sept. 1.
“I’m sad to leave Forest Park but hoping to make things better for Maywood because they don’t have a record store now. They haven’t for a long time,” Gianakopoulos said, adding that Reimer Records in Maywood closed a couple decades ago.
Before launching Old School Records, Gianakopoulos worked at a 2nd Hand Tunes store in Hyde Park, which he said was the highest performing of the company’s stores. When he moved to the Oak Park 2nd Hand Tunes, he said that it became the location with the best sales.
Gianakopoulos first opened Old School Records on Madison Street with his then-wife in 2003 and largely relocated because of rising rent. When he launched on Madison Street, Gianakopoulos said he was paying $1,400 a month for rent. By the time he moved to the Des Plaines Avenue location in 2017, he said rent was nearly $2,800.
“Here, I started in 2017 at $1,500, and he already had me up to $2,000 in eight years,” Gianakopoulos said of his Des Plaines Avenue landlord. Gianakopoulos added that his rent in Maywood will start around the same price as his first two locations, but with smaller annual increases.
“After three, five years, I won’t even be anywhere near what I’m paying now,” he said.
“In the future, I would just buy my own building, live upstairs and have a store underneath it. And maybe one day I will,” Gianakopoulos added. But his ultimate goal is to also have a recording studio, since he had a record label before Old School Records. “My actual dream is to own the building, have a recording studio in the back, a record label in the middle and a retail store in the front, all under Old School Records.”
Landlord-tenant dispute
Gianakopoulos said that issues with Zayed intensified last October, when he fell behind on two months of rent after a hard year of sales. There was a sign reading “lost my lease” in his window, but the store remained open.
“Since I’ve been here eight years, after I bounced a few checks, he says he threw my lease out and then made me month-to-month,” Gianakopoulos said.
Zayed, who’s been a landlord since 1980, said last year wasn’t the first time Gianakopoulos fell behind on rent.
“For seven years [he’s been] bouncing checks. At one point last year, I told him I will not accept your personal checks,” Zayed said. “He doesn’t pay his rent, and I’ve been asking him nicely to leave the store because I lost my insurance policy because of him.” Zayed said that inspectors from an insurance company visited Old School Records and said it was a fire hazard. After repeatedly asking Gianakopoulos to clean up the store or move out, Zayed said he took him to court. He said they’ve been to court seven times, and that he’s never had to take a tenant to court before.
Then on June 13, the Cook County Sheriff’s Office locked Gianakopoulos out of Old School Records.
“I had late rent, but all I got was a letter in the mail the day before,” Gianakopoulos said. He added that he paid December, January, February and March rent at the end of March, and he paid April’s rent in June.
According to Zayed, a judge signed off on Gianakopoulos’ eviction at a court date that the store owner wasn’t present for. Zayed said he told Gianakopoulos to meet him and the sheriff at Old School Records on June 13 to evict him, but he didn’t show up, so they called a locksmith and put a sign on the door restricting anyone to enter.
Then, Gianakopoulos said he filed a motion in court that was overturned, and he was able to return to his store on June 28.
“He said he’s wanted me out for two years,” Gianakopoulos said of Zayed. “I said ‘Fine, give me 30 days and then I’ll get out.’” His last day in the store was July 27. There was a “For Rent” sign in the window the following day.
“He was still coming in and harassing me, and I had to go back to the court instead of being here another day of work,” Gianakopoulos said of Zayed. “He’s violated many terms of the order, and he keeps coming here, the whole time we were in court this year, constantly threatening me on busy Saturdays with customers in the store.”
Zayed said Gianakopoulos harassed him, “called me all kinds of names and is always very threatening,” Zayed said. He added that Gianakopoulos left three dumpsters worth of stuff in his storefront after moving out.
Though Gianakopoulos said he still owes rent for May, June and a prorated fee for July, “With me being locked out, I don’t think I owe him anything,” he said. “I lost more money than I owe.” Gianakopoulos estimates that, over the two weeks he couldn’t access his storefront, he missed out on at least $8,000 in online and in-store sales. Gianakopoulos said that amount doesn’t account for legal fees or his emotional distress.
Zayed said that the judge ordered a judgment that Gianakopoulos owes Zayed $13,600 in rent he hasn’t paid.
Gianakopoulos said a couple factors play into why he’s been late on his Des Plaines Avenue rent every month this year, including his health and a decline in sales.
In 2023, Gianakopoulos was hospitalized with diverticulitis. He had to close Old School Records for two weeks and got behind on rent. He had another diverticulitis bout this spring and fell behind on rent again. Last month, he was hospitalized for gallstones and had to close the store. Gianakopoulos has been Old School Records’ sole employee for the past several years.
Last October, Gianakopoulos said he struggled with sales in 2024, saying that streaming services are the main reason why.
“I’m just hoping the economy kicks around,” Gianakopoulos previously told the Review in 2024. “It was a lot harder this year.”
