Newcastle, UK | Newcastle’s Beyond Vinyl To Close: Newcastle record shop Beyond Vinyl will close in March 2023. The shop opened five years ago, and has made its home on 88 Westgate Road in the North East city. Building a loyal customer base, Beyond Vinyl has endured time, tide, and the odd pandemic or two, but it seems that the shop will be forced to close this year. In a note to customers, Beyond Vinyl confirmed that it will close in March, due to “the current climate.” Urging local councils to support high street retailers and independent businesses, Beyond Vinyl say: “They are the heart of the local community and make Newcastle the best city in the UK.” Beyond Vinyl intend to continue trading online, with their website receiving a full overhaul and redesign—get involved.
Colorado Springs, CO | Music lovers find joy in new Colorado Springs record shop: Shawn Mayo had a hand-sketched drawing hanging on his refrigerator of the dream record shop he someday hoped to own. Twenty years later, he brought his drawing to life. Mayo and business partner Drew Morton opened Tiger Records last month, marking the inception of Colorado Springs’ newest record store among nearly a half dozen others, such as Earth Pig and What’s Left Records. The shop, tucked into a strip mall at 1625 W. Unitah St. on Colorado Springs’ west side, features an array of vintage vinyl, new releases, sound systems and rock memorabilia, such as posters and stickers. “I have been in the record business since 1985,” Mayo said. “I have worked for many record stores, most notably Independent Records here in town, for 23 years I worked for them.” But in March, Mayo said he was laid off from his job at Independent Records. Mayo saw it as an opportunity for him and Morton, a friend and record hunter, to start their store after they had acquired a treasure trove of records from a longtime collector.
Cleveland, OH | Cleveland’s Blue Arrow Records Releases Debut from L.A.-Based Experimental Group 1X4X9: Band features former Clevelander Gregory Wooten. Several years ago, renowned designer, collector and musician Gregory Wooten stopped in at Blue Arrow Records to peruse the Collinwood record store’s terrific vinyl collection. A former Clevelander, Wooten was visiting his parents and decided to take a day to dig for albums. At the time, he had built up what he calls a “crazy collection” of defaced album covers and was about to publish the book Marred for Life!: Defaced Record Covers from the Collection of Gregory Wooten. He was looking to add to it and asked Blue Arrow owner Pete Gulyas if he had anything “squirreled away.” “He had a box in the back, and it completely blew my mind,” says Wooten via phone. “At that point, I had about 1,000 defaced albums. I was bugging out because Pete had so many great ones. They weren’t for sale, but I couldn’t resist asking him if I could get just one.
Knighton, UK | Sound of music set to be heard even more in town: Juke boxes, records and vintage items—the owners of a new Knighton shop are determined to bring the sound of music to the area. Mark Owen and Claire Williams opened Diesel Records shop on High Street recently. The couple have traded in records for about 12 years, both online and in retail, and they have had a few shops in South Wales. But when they moved to Knighton in the summer, their new home also came with a shop downstairs. As well as picking up some vinyl, shoppers can also browse through antiques, vintage items and collectibles in the adjoined Rebel Vintage part of the store. The couple run both shops side by side. Mark runs Diesel Records and it not only sells vinyl LPs but also 78s, singles, cds, cassette tapes and memorabilia, including T shirts, American number plates, one-arm bandits, pinball machines and juke boxes.
Cleveland, OH | Encore: One of the country’s oldest independent record stores is closing: One of the country’s oldest independent record stores is closing its doors for good. For more than five decades, Record Revolution has been a fixture in the music scene around Cleveland. It’s seen customer preferences changes again and again, from vinyl to cassettes, CDs, to streaming and back to vinyl again. Kabir Bhatia from member station WKSU visited Record Revolution before it’s official closing date, now set for January 7. …Despite vinyl’s comeback over the past decade, sales at Record Revolution have still been slow. One big factor is the music industry’s shift to streaming music. Joey Deane and Ellie Montenegro, both in their 20s, do download their favorite music, but they frequently spend date night vinyl hunting. They both like the experience that comes with buying records at a brick-and-mortar store.
Rochester, NY | Best Record Store: Record Archive: Each of Rochester’s record stores seems to have its own personality. Our voters came out in convincing numbers in favor of Record Archive and its vast warehouse of CDs, DVDs, vintage clothing, audio equipment, gag gifts, and vinyl that you regret having sold years ago. Founded in 1975 by one of the city’s unique characters, Richard Storms, the place has anything and everything for the serious audiophile, toy collector, and novelty nerd, with a wine and beer bar to boot. Record Archive’s Backroom Lounge—with the only bar among Rochester’s record stores—is also one of the best-sounding rooms in the area.
Richmond, VA | Collectors turn the profits of the record shops: Music lovers flock from Washington and all parts of Virginia to check out Richmond’s expansive recording scene. “It’s a huge vinyl city,” said Bobby Egger, owner of Vinyl Conflict Records on East Grace Street. “It’s kind of a hub for the whole state.” Vinyl Conflict specializes in punk and metal records, but also has a growing hip-hop section. The store often works with smaller artists who self-release their albums or operate from smaller music labels. “I think people are really having fun collecting records again because they can support artists directly,” says Egger. “Now you see a lot of big stores like Walmart, Target and Barnes & Noble stocking vinyl again.” Vinyl album sales rose 22% in the first half of 2022, according to the Recording Industry Association of America’s mid-year statistics report. Vinyl’s share of the physical product market increased from 68% to 73% during this period.
Classic Neil Gaiman stories now available on vinyl: James McAvoy and Benedict Cumberbatch star in audio dramatisations of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere and How The Marquis Got His Coat Back, all available on vinyl. Two full-cast audio dramatisations of bestselling stories by Neil Gaiman are now available on vinyl for the first time in the Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere Record Collection box set, which even includes exclusive print signed by Neil Gaiman limited to 500 copies! This awesome vinyl box set includes five discs in 140g black vinyl, a laser etched Side H depicting a London Below tunnel, exclusive sleeve notes by Neil Gaiman, full cast, credits and broadcast details, and a frameable, full-colour print of Neil Gaiman, signed by the author himself! The box set includes two classic stories: Neverwhere and How The Marquis Got His Coat Back. In Neverwhere, a chance encounter propels mild-mannered Richard Mayhew into the netherworld of London Below, where he discovers his adventures are only just beginning and How The Marquis Got His Coat Back tells of a mission for the Marquis de Carabas, and an encounter with an old enemy.
