Silver Spring book and record store prioritizes consumers over profit

By Asia McGill

Tucked away in the Silver Spring, Maryland Metro Plaza is Mojomala, a family owned book and record shop where owner Michael Abate has vowed to shoulder inflation costs for the sake of his customers.

“I think at the moment it would be [best] to keep the cost down and to absorb it myself,” Abate said. “We're small enough that I don't have a lot of overhead costs at this point.”

As inflation strains local businesses nationwide, consumers say they are willing to accept price hikes to support neighborhood retailers and invest in their community.

“I've already received my first ‘tariff’ email from one of our vendors who is raising their prices because they’re directly affected [by] their products … that's going to carry over to me,’” he said referring to the administration’s tariffs on imported goods from other countries.

According to the 2025 quarterly report by Small Business Index, 55% of small business owners reported inflation to be their biggest challenge last year.

The rubber used by Abate’s vendors to make collectibles rose by 25% to 30%. Fortunately, Abate avoids distributors by buying directly as needed.

Outside of Abate picking up books from state sales, Mojomala customers are encouraged to sell their records, books and “cool stuff” to the store so long as they are in good condition.

With this system of buying and selling, Abate predicts that “the costs of used items probably won't change that much.”

“We've actually done fairly well over the last couple of months, no noticeable drop or anything like that,” Abate said.

Local resident Blair Tierney visited Mojomala with her friends as first-time customers on Saturday, March 22, with the group on the hunt for new X-Box games and a peruse of the store’s record collection.

“We're going to get Black Ops and we're gonna go home,” Tierney said. “I'm probably going to grab a record from here. I'm buying that board game in the window.”

Tierney recently moved back to her hometown of Silver Spring, and while some of the beloved local shops of her adolescence are no longer in business, she aims to support the ones that are still standing.

“You think about all the places that have closed down, all of the small businesses that couldn't make it because the rent is skyrocketing around here,” she said. “I'm going [to] do what I can to make sure that everybody can still have a small business succeed in a place like this.”

Tierney said she understands that the ability to purchase leisure items is dependent on one’s financial security, and that she is grateful to be stable enough to pay it forward.

“I'm in a period of my life where it took a long time to get here, and now that I feel like I can give back to my community, I'm going to do it at a local store,” she said.

Hanna Bahr and her husband Kevin, friends of Tierney, browsed through the record section of the store, Kevin scoring a Meco The Wizard of Oz vinyl and Hanna snagged an original copy of My Neighbor Totoro.

“It’s better than shopping online. The experience feels more personal, and you can have more human interaction,” Hanna said.

While the friend group came to Mojomala on a whim, Hanna said she is always looking for hidden gems in the Silver Spring, and encourages other local residents to do the same.

“Just walk around,” Hanna said. “Some people get so stuck in their apartment that it just gets really boring after a while.”

Couple Alex Diaz and Melody Medina are advocates for shopping locally. Their Saturday morning coffee was purchased from an Asian owned bakery below their building, and their books from the outdoor book rack at Mojomala.

“I like wherever I spend my money to really count. Where I can, I like to avoid Big-Box business because at least I know that my dollar is moving somewhere into the stream of commerce that isn't being taken out of the community and is instead going to support [the] people in it,” Diaz said.

Diaz is a Texas native who moved to Silver Spring last year to pursue his law degree at Washington College of Law.

“I think no matter where I am, it's the same feeling that it's just everyday people just trying to survive, trying to pursue their own dreams and I like to support that as much as I can,” Diaz said.

Medina comes from a family of small business owners that distributed meat to grocers, butchers and restaurants, and understands the importance of uplifting your community.

“Being somebody who was raised by somebody who has a small business, I think that is really important,” Medina said. “I saw what it did for my family and how it really helped us to kind of grow outside of what we had.”

Medina understands that some owners are faced with the challenge of having to raise prices in order to stay afloat as a business, but notes that consumers will pay the higher price if necessary.

“I support it honestly because if the prices are being raised upon them (owners), how are they able to make ends meet or even keep up with what they're doing?” Medina said. “Make the prices that you need it to be for you to survive and thrive.”