Los Angeles, CA | Fat Beats Is Back In Business. The Record Store Re-Opens In Los Angeles: In the midst of 2010, famed record store Fat Beats closed its New York City and Los Angeles, California locations. The vinyl, CD, tape, and Hip-Hop merchandise destination had become an international mainstay in the cultural landscape. Eminem, JAY-Z, Kanye West, Common, and countless others performed there. Members of Non-Phixion, The Juggaknots, The Arsonists, La Coka Nostra, and Brown Bag AllStars worked there. However, like many brick-and-mortar record stores catering to Hip-Hop, technology trends ultimately took their toll on the retailer started by Joe Abajian. In a breath of good news, Fat Beats has made its return in a new L.A. location in the heart of City Of Angels’ Downtown section. On September 22, a store at 916 San Pedro Street re-opened.
Lincoln, NE | Lefty’s Records brings coziness, quality back to vinyl for music lovers of all ages: In today’s age, music often exists as a compressed file on a computer to be sent around the ether as a novelty. The value of holding a physical copy of music has been replaced with the convenience of streaming channels. However, a growing minority of music listeners has congregated around vinyl records and the tender vision of the past that come with them. Lefty’s Records, a cozy shop nestled in between other small businesses on Lincoln’s South Street, specializes in selling used vinyl records. The store opened in the fall of 2011, and sells nearly any physical medium of music imaginable. Lefty’s owner and founder, Les “Lefty” Greer, leads the pack of vinyl-hungry music lovers that wander through his doors looking for the newest in old.
Santa Clarita, CA | Voodoo Vinyl Brings Hi-Fi Sounds To Old Town Newhall: Voodoo Vinyl has been spinning records for music aficionados out in Antelope Valley for decades, but now the family-owned business has officially opened a second location in Old Town Newhall. Santa Clarita disk jockeys can now peruse an eclectic library of sound at Voodoo Vinyl’s new store located at 24269 Main Street. Owned and operated by the last three generations of the Pinker family, Voodoo Vinyl has evolved into not only an expanding business, but a shop that preserves the experience of listening to an analog album in a digital age. “I personally wanted to move down to Santa Clarita because I’ve went to school here,” said Pinker. “Also, Santa Clarita doesn’t have a lot of counterculture, so it’s kind of cool to be one of the few sources here.”
Bloomington, IN | Landlocked Music Moving To New Location In 2019: …Co-owner Jason Nickey says their current building recently came under new ownership. Planned structural renovations would require businesses to temporarily vacate the building sometime next year. “Yeah, we were looking at probably moving next year anyway and the space seemed right. It’s next door to friends and neighbors, good partners of ours, and it seemed like it was the best option available,” Nickey says. Nickey says the move isn’t going to be a huge change. The store will still be located on South Walnut, but in the 100 block near The Bishop and The Comedy Attic. Nickey says, after renovations, the new location will be roughly twice the size of the current store. He says they have more inventory than there is room to display, so the new space allows for growth.
Columbia, SC | After more than 30 years, this Columbia music fixture is singing its swan song: …Manifest, the music and pop-culture store in the Boozer Shopping Center opened in 1985, founded by Carl Singmaster, a metal and heavy music fan. The legacy record store’s first location was on Main Street in Columbia. As the store grew in popularity, Manifest found its final home at the corner of Bush River and Broad River Road in the 1990s. The store became known for its selection of music, t-shirts and other music ephemera. Singmaster opened other Manifest stores in Charlotte, Charleston and other places. In 2004, after worries that Manifest would close, the Columbia record store was sold to another company and would eventually be owned by Trans World Entertainment Corporation, a company that bought up many of the mall-based record store chains like Sam Goody and f.y.e. Under corporate ownership Manifest expanded into other areas of pop-culture such as video games. Over it’s 33 year history, Manifest was a frequent destination for people looking for a quick buck by selling vinyl, CDs, DVDs, and video games.
Hattiesburg, MS | Treasure hunters dig for gold (records) at WMPG’s annual sale: Kym Cournoyer of Portland flipped through cartons of old vinyl LPs Saturday at the WMPG Record Sale at the University of Southern Maine’s Sullivan gym. She had already extracted some Pink Floyd, Stevie Wonder and jazz albums and was riffling among the thousands of other vinyl records on sale. Vinyl has made a comeback in the past decade as compact discs faded away in the age of internet streaming and satellite radio. “We are buying back all the records we sold at yard sales 20 years ago,” said Cournoyer, a baby boomer. “We thought we would never play them again.” Cournoyer and hundreds of other shoppers spent hours poring over tens of thousands of phonograph records, CDs and audio equipment for sale at the WMPG’s 23rd annual sale. The community radio station – on Bedford Street on USM’s Portland campus – airs radio shows with the help of about 200 volunteer disc jockeys and talk show hosts in program slots featuring a hodgepodge of topics and musical genres.
