Redditch, UK | Redditch independent record shop announces closure: It’S the end of an era—or rather a decade—for indie record shop, Vintage Trax after its owner, Ros Sidaway, reluctantly announced the closure of the shop. It’s fair to say that 2023 has been a challenging year for the business, just off Church Green East in the town centre. The ongoing cost of living crisis and the overall state of affairs in the town have negatively impacted both footfall and customer spend, with income not covering the overheads for the past few months. In addition, a bad fall at the end of May kept Ros away from the shop for five months and her husband, David, had to step in and keep things ticking over with her sister, Teresa, who has worked with Ros since Vintage Trax began trading back in 2013. “I had hoped that, with Christmas fast approaching, trade would have begun to pick up but with just over four weeks to go there is no sign of that happening,” said Ros. “So, it’s with a heavy heart that I have had to take the hard decision to close down the shop early in the New Year.”
Grand Rapids, MI | First Black women-owned vinyl record shop opens in Grand Rapids: Grand Rapids welcomed a new cultural milestone with the opening of Della Soul Records, the first vinyl record shop owned by a Black woman. On Nov. 4, Grand Rapids welcomed a new cultural milestone with the opening of Della Soul Records, the city’s first vinyl record shop owned by a Black woman, according to WoodTV. Della Marie Levi, driven by her lifelong passion for music and inspired by her father’s vinyl record collection, has transformed her dream into reality by establishing this unique record store. Music has always held a special place in Levi’s heart, as she reminisced about her father’s enthusiasm for vinyl records. “He loved vinyl records. He was in the special zone whenever he listened to his vinyl records,” Levi fondly recalled to WoodTV. Her journey into vinyl records began when she decided to learn DJing using this classic medium. Starting with pop-up shops, she recently expanded into her permanent brick-and-mortar store on Kalamazoo Avenue near Hall Street, officially named Della Soul Records.
Newark, DE | Main Street record shopping: I started record shopping at some point during the pandemic. All of the time I spent alone allowed me to expand my listening habits and develop new interests, one of them collecting vinyl records. Since then, I’ve accumulated a rather sizable inventory consisting of a variety of genres and sounds. From The Strokes’ “Is This It” to Sufjan Stevens’ “Illinois” and “Carrie and Lowell” to, of course, the “La La Land” soundtrack (the cinephile in me always prevails), I now have enough records to satisfy myself for eternity. That doesn’t mean I have any plan of stopping. In the age of digital streaming, not enough people are aware of the solace that can be found in record shops. So, I recently visited all three of Main Street’s record stores, purchasing one album from each. Let this article act as a guide to the venues, as people should be more inclined to check them out.
St. Peter, MN | Gustavus professor, rapper opens record store in downtown St. Peter: For philosopher, rapper, theologian and now St. Peter’s newest business owner Jon Ivan Gill, music’s power to move and shape people’s lives is comparable to the influence of the divine. The idea that music can imbue its listeners and practitioners with identity, purpose and even guide them toward a good life drives Gill’s own work as an Assistant Professor in Philosophy at Gustavus Adolphus College, where he explores the boundaries between hip-hop and philosophical and religious thought in courses like Philosophy and Battle Rap. So when Gill and his brother Steven Andrews decided to open up a new record store at 123 S. Minnesota Avenue, they chose a fitting name to describe the shelves of cutting edge and classic records inside: Aesthetic Religion, Records & Texts. Sandwiched between Rick’s Consignment and Antiques and Southern Minnesota Orthodontics, the downtown record store celebrated its grand opening on Friday by bringing the music to downtown St. Peter with a symphony of special events.
Winnipeg, CA | Landmark Portage Avenue record store holding weekend sale before shop closes for good: Riek Gladys remembers a time when he could walk down Portage Avenue and pass by about a dozen record stores. But once CDs and digital music came out, he says a lot of those shops couldn’t compete, leaving Tom Bishop’s The Sound Exchange, at the corner of Young Street and Portage Avenue, as one of the remaining record stores in Winnipeg. Now, after closing to customers a few years ago, The Sound Exchange is shutting down for good, but not without opening its doors to Winnipeg music fans one last time this weekend to sell off its inventory. “Music lovers in Winnipeg supported the Bishop family and the store for the last 50 years,” Gladys told CBC’s Weekend Morning Show on Saturday. “We thought this was a nice way of giving back.” Tom and Lynn Bishop opened the store in 1976. Their son, Jeff Bishop, also helped run it, greeting customers during the afternoon rush, said Gladys, a decades-long friend of the family who’s helping organize this weekend’s sale.
Allentown, PA | ‘Want to go out strong’: Beloved Allentown record store to close after 27 years: A popular record store in Allentown is pulling the plug after nearly 30 years of business. Double Decker Records, which buys, sells and trades vinyl records, is set to close Dec. 2 at 808 St. John St. Owner Jamie Holmes, 49, started the business in 1996, when he was 22 years old, and is looking to pursue a new professional endeavor. “After 27 years, it’s time for a change,” Holmes wrote on the business’ Facebook page. “This decision did not come easy. Thank you all for making the store what it was. It’s been quite the journey.” Double Decker Records originated at a neighboring storefront in the same Allentown neighborhood before moving to another nearby spot and settling into its current digs in 2004. “This is our third location, but we never had to move more than 100 feet,” Holmes said. The business specializes in new and used vinyl, with the store carrying more than 25,000 LPs and more than 10,000 45s. There’s also a room with discounted merchandise, ranging from 50 cents to $2, along with a smaller collection of cassettes, CDs and DVDs.
Houston, TX | New Vintage Record Store And Speakeasy Lounge Drops The Needle In Houston: See what’s spinning at Off The Record, the new vinyl shop and speakeasy cocktail lounge in Downtown, Houston. Let the sound take you away… Off The Record is a speakeasy behind a vinyl shop now open at 416 Main Street. Inside this jazzy little haunt, visitors can lounge on crushed velvet couches, drink music-themed cocktails, and enjoy the sounds of resident DJs. Opened this past November, Off The Record is housed in the building formerly occupied by Bovine and Barley. At the forefront is a fully operational record store, where visitors can leaf through vinyl spanning genres and generations. Here, visitors might also notice a misleading “Employees Only” sign in front of a curtain. Herein lies the entry point to the speakeasy. Visitors can then follow the vibes to the mixology room, where the walls are adorned with golden records ranging from Marvin Gaye to Nirvana, velvet booths, and a wraparound bar.
Dallas, TX | Remembering Bucks Burnett: Bucks Burnett walked me to the back of 14 Records. The shop was the size of a closet, I was seeing the only part of it that was hidden from the average customer. He pulled back a tapestry to reveal a toilet, surrounded by clutter, with a framed golden record resting on top of it. The record was The Who’s 2019 release, Who, gifted personally to Burnett by the band’s frontman, Pete Townshend. It was framed beautifully, and surely worth thousands of dollars just from Townshend’s association with it. Burnett seemed to delight in the juxtaposition created by such a valuable item being haphazardly laid over a toilet, especially in a place that could only be appreciated by him. “That’s rock ‘n’ roll baby,” Burnett said, gesturing to the record with a smirk. I felt clarity. The restroom record had just given me the solution to the Bucks Burnett enigma that I’d been trying to solve since my first meeting with him when I was 16. Burnett told me to meet him at the record store at midnight, “no earlier, no later.”
Toronto, CA | Why Sunrise Records Is Still Spinning: It survived Napster, iTunes, and streaming. Now the chain is expanding its horizons overseas: THE ONLY way into Cloverdale Mall is through a parking lot. Here, in the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke, the world of retail is languid and sprawling, with a noticeably older demographic than in its downtown equivalents. A walk through the one-storey mall will take you past discount clothing outlets and an all but forgotten bookstore chain. Around a corner, past a Chinese food stall called Pick ‘N’ Chus, is a familiar red and black sign: SUNRISE. A series of mostly unadorned shelves are packed with DVDs, vinyl records, and CDs organized by genre: punk, metal, jazz, blues, and hip hop. Near the front is a slogan: “Canada’s Record Store.”
