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GREENSBORO - BBs Compact Discs has lots of great finds.

Mariah Carey 's classic "MTV Unplugged " album for $2.99 ? Check.

A listening bar to preview the store's entire CD collection? Check.

Enough money to outdo chain stores and online music downloading? Pump the brakes.

Independent music stores like BBs are finding it hard to compete with those heavy-hitters.

Just last year, School Kids Records closed after more than 30 years in Chapel Hill, and The Record Exchange in Greensboro was bulldozed, to be replaced by a pharmacy.

BBs owner Duncan Dunn said the store's lease is up on Aug. 31 and he isn't sure if renewing is the best option.

"It just doesn't make sense in this economic climate and in this location," he said.

Dunn, 32 , said he saw customers leave his location at Quaker Village Shopping Center along with Fresh Market last year.

So he will host a big sale starting today and lasting indefinitely to boost sales and help the store reach its 20th anniversary next year.

"We are hoping to be able to make enough money by the end of July to uproot ourselves and give us a chance of surviving," Dunn said.

BBs is one of the last stores left in the Triad that sells new and used CDs.

Matt Williams, a sales clerk there for more than two years, said he's seen business decline gradually since his arrival.

"We have two registers," Williams said, pointing toward the machines. "But I don't remember the last time I ever had to used the second register."

Williams said customers are attracted to the prices and the collection of lesser-known genres, as exemplified by the "Romantica: The Very Best of Luciano Pavarotti " CD facing "The Best of Deicide ," an aggressive rock album.

On Monday, 33-year-old Howard Marsh took advantage of one of his favorite amenities - the listening bar - to preview an album.

"I used to come here on my 10th -grade lunch breaks," Marsh said. "So it's a long time."

Dunn said he feels that every city needs a locally owned and independent record store, where the staff can help and connect with customers.

That connection is why loyal customers like Right Hook Records owner Danny Fonorow come back.

Fonorow, 32, visits on Tuesdays to view the new releases.

"I don't want a washer or dryer around me when I'm searching for music," he said about larger chain stores that carry music.

"So, I'm a big believer in mom-and-pop record stores, where people are actually interested about music. Not just making another sale."

A self-professed "BBs junkie," Fonorow has been visiting the store since its opening day in 1989 .

He met his fiancee and began his love affair with music in BBs.

"I'm just hoping that this isn't the beginning of the end,' he said, "but maybe the beginning of a new chapter."

Contact Dioni L. Wise at 373-7059 or dioni.wise@news-record.com