When growing up, there are few positions out there that scream “dream job,” and fewer that are actually obtainable. While every little boy wants to be a firefighter or an astronaut, I’m pretty sure record store clerk is up there.

Mark “The Chief” Cerny, owner of Record Revolution, 817 W. Lincoln Highway, recently made the decision to close shop after serving DeKalb for more than 35 years, citing a floundering, save-first economy and the ever-expanding Internet as his biggest competitors. The storefront’s neon lighting will be switched off for good April 25.

As a former employee myself, the announcement hit me especially hard.

Much of my junior year was spent behind the counter, assisting fellow music lovers with their purchases and giving recommendations. The rush from introducing someone to their new favorite band is second to none. “The Rev” is more than a retail outlet or a place to flip through posters. It is, above all else, an environment to learn, to grow and to come together.

The kind of atmosphere a mom-and-pop shop such as this generates can no longer be emanated. It simply cannot. Big box retailers like Best Buy and Wal-Mart have stymied sales, but what the Revolution lacked in cutthroat pricing, it more than made up for in heart. For the past few years, the store has remained open solely on customer appreciation. Cerny considers a day in which he breaks even to be a “good day.”

Cerny thought about shutting his doors several years ago, but his love of music kept him coming back for more. Serving the Northern Illinois community was always his goal. Yet even he knew it couldn’t last.

“Times have changed,” he said in reference to being the final record store in the area. “It’s amazing we’ve kept it going as long as we have.”

To lose this store is to lose not only a piece of DeKalb, but a piece of myself. The part-time position I filled then was one I had always dreamed of. Kids today will have no such dreams as more and more independent retailers close their doors. As the Record Revolution closes its own doors, I look back not in sadness, but with a smile. Cerny, who will continue to sell music over the Internet after all is said and done, felt similar.

“It’s been a good run here at The Rev,” he said. “I have no regrets.”

Nor should he.