Stark County, OH | Vinyl store owner aims to help women in her community: According to Billboard, 43% of all albums sold in the U.S. in 2022 were vinyl, and nearly half of all vinyl albums were purchased at independent record stores like Sam Heaton’s Massillon store Erie Street Vinyl. “I opened up in October ’21, and my husband and I purchased the building in March of ’21,” Heaton said. “We’ve been spinning music and keeping the lights on.” Although Heaton’s business is fairly new, her love for vinyl goes way back. “We are that family, we are like the first ones on the dance floor and the last ones to leave,” she said. “My sister is a choreographer. My parents love music. My brothers are musical.” Born and raised in Stark County, Heaton said she’s happy to bring a bit of music to the heart of Massillon. “I strive to throw a really big net out there,” she said. “I want everyone to feel welcome, and I want everyone to find something to get them happy about and find some nostalgia in.”
Newmarket, ON | Love of music, joy in collecting keeps Newmarket record store spinning: 33 1/3 Record Store is a happy place for young and old alike who appreciate music that comes on vinyl. Newmarket’s 33 1/3 Record Store is a dream come true for owner Rob Davison. His sister gave him his first record when he was just six years old, Abbey Road by The Beatles. He grew up checking the charts and using his allowance to buy a 45 RPM record every week. As a teenager, he would frequent record stores and that’s something that continued into adulthood, especially Sam the Record Man in Toronto. “I was there and this young lady asked me what Stevie Wonder album should she buy and I said, ‘I don’t work here’ and she said,’No, but you just look like the kind of person that would know,'” he said. That interaction inspired him to start his own record store in the Newmarket area. He left his job as a teacher in York Region and opened 33 1/3 in 2016. The name is inspired by the speed at which a regular record spins, 33 and 1/3 revolutions per minute. A 45, a smaller record, is named that because it spins at 45 revolutions per minute.
Milwaukee, WI | We’re Open: We Buy Records in Riverwest has some sought-after vinyl: We Buy Records on Center Street in Riverwest is a record shop that specializes in selling vinyl records. Andy Noble owns the store. He’s been buying and selling records for the past 23 years. He opened up his first record shop back in 2000. “That was kind of a weird year to be opening up an all-vinyl record shop,” Andy says. “DJs still played mostly vinyl in that year. We had people come in from all over the world to that shop. Afrika Bambaataa came in, we had DJ Shadow there multiple times.” Noble has a sharp eye when it comes to sought-after valuable vinyl records. He’s traveled the world to stock his store. “As far as a specialty, we’ve been all about funk, soul, and jazz,” Andy beams. “Classic rock also has been huge the last few years.” “I always find something new here,” Emmet Benedict says. “I love exploring the old vinyl that are kinda on the cheaper side. The last time I was here, I got Slayer vinyl, that was half red and half black, I’m always about the colorful vinyls.”
Astoria, NY | Popular vinyl record and coffee shop in Astoria shutters after nine year run: A beloved vinyl record and coffee shop in Astoria has closed after a nine-year run. HiFi Records & Café, which specialized in new and used vinyl records, closed its 23-19 Steinway St. location at the end of last month after the store’s lease came to an end, according to an Instagram post the business put out. The post did not say why the business did not renew the lease, or if the operators intend on relocating the store. “Thank you all for the love and support we have received from you over the past nine years,” the post reads. “We are eternally grateful for all the laughs and good times we shared with you and to everyone we’ve met here on our journey. Keep your ears to the ground and your eyes peeled for news on our next adventure.” HiFi Records & Café was known for offering thousands of vinyl records — both old and new — from a host of different genres including jazz, rock, blues, R&B, psychedelic, punk.
London, UK | New record store Steak Records to open in South London: Opening this weekend, the shop will cover genres from techno to prog-rock. A new record store, Steak Records is opening in Peckham, South London this weekend. Running a launch party on February 11 from 1:PM till 5:PM, the record store will have NTS and Rinse FM guests on the decks. Sets on the day will be broadcasted on Balamii and will see shop curator Jon Phonics perform alongside Footshooter, Poison Zorca, DJ Gilla and Scenic Route co-founder Bryce’s Brother. Selling second-hand vinyl, the shop will have a range of genres including house, techno, hip hop, jazz, soul, boogie, prog rock and more New releases will also be available from labels such as First Word, Eglo, Tiff’s Joints and Group BraCil on offer. “With Steak Records I want to contribute towards a record shopping culture that demystifies the ‘grumpy record store’ stereotype and encourages music discovery, while cultivating a creative hub for labels and artists operating in the South London area,” Jon Phonics told RA, confirming that release parties for his labels and more will also be hosted at the store.
The future of tomorrow, yesterday: Young people turning to retro technology: Dust off your Walkmans and sharpen your pencils — cassette tapes are making a comeback among the youth, to the confusion of those who lived with them. Tapes seem to be the latest retro object of fascination for today’s young people. Billboard reported Wednesday that 440,000 cassettes were sold during 2022, an increase of 443% from 2015 sales figures. Popular artists like Taylor Swift, Harry Styles and Billie Eilish have released their albums on cassette over the past two years, with more to come later this year. On social media, there is a healthy community of audiophiles eager to show off their collections, many of whom were born after the medium’s heyday. Heather Smock, co-owner of Pizza Records, said most of the people who came into the record store looking for cassettes were in their teens to early 20s, with some customers being as young as 12 or 13. “(We weren’t) too sure how cassettes would even do,” she said. “I mean, do people even have cassette players anymore? So, it stood out to us that it was people much younger than us that (were) coming in here and buying them.”
Odessa, TX | OC to hold vinyl records sale: The Odessa College Music Department invites music lovers to browse through the many vinyl records they will have on sale at its Vinyl Scholarship Sale to benefit Odessa College music students. Attendees will find musical selections ranging from orchestral works to musical theatre and musical styles including classical, jazz, opera, guitar, and piano performances. The sale will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 25 in the Jack Rodgers Fine Arts Building and will be open to the public. All proceeds will go to the Music Student Scholarship Fund. “This is a wonderful opportunity to purchase some timeless music in pristine condition and also a great way to support music scholarships for OC students,” said Eric Baker, department chair of the Visual and Performing Arts Department.
