Dearborn, MI | Dearborn Music plans second record store in Farmington: A longstanding local record shop is planning to expand to a second location as it celebrates its 65th year in business. Dearborn Music Monday announced plans to open a second shop later this summer in the Groves Retail Center at Farmington and Grand River. The new location will sell vinyl records, CDs, DVDs, clothing, accessories, games and other pop culture merchandise. “I’ve always thought Farmington would be a great town for a second location. I’m looking forward to establishing relationships with the community and branching out into a new era,” said co-owner Kevin LeAnnais. He and his brother, Rick LeAnnais, purchased the business in 2001 from their father Phil LeAnnais, who bought the store in 1956 from previous owner Norris Smith. An official opening date for the Farmington location has not been set, but it’s expected to debut with promotions and in-store giveaways.
St. Charles, IL | How Hoarders Trading Post in St. Charles became a top seller of used and rare records: Russell Martens was excited about the prospect of his new business, Hoarders Trading Post, when it opened on the east side of St. Charles two years ago. He felt his assortment of old toys, bicycles, video games and other items would draw a lot of attention. And it did — maybe just not quite what he was expecting. “Within the first week of opening, someone came in and bought out the whole inventory,” Martens said. “It was a woman who bought it to wipe out any competition and then sold it on Amazon.” It left Martens with a great idea for a store — at that time located at 504 E. Main St. — but with nothing much in it. “I thought, OK, I will replace it (the inventory) with something else,” Martens said. “And then it just turned into a record store and has stayed a full-blown record store since.”
Los Angeles, CA | Coachella Co-Founder To Open Los Angeles Record Store: Paul Tollett, one of the co-founders of Coachella, will open a record store in the Los Angeles suburb of Atwater. The store has been christened Record Safari Los Angeles. Tollett has taken a 10-year lease on the property. The building at 3222 Los Feliz Blvd was formerly the Sonora Recorders recording studio. Ben Harper, Rufus Wainwright, Keb Mo, Joe Henry, Emmylou Harris, Manhattan Transfer have recorded at the studio. Record Safari will host in-stores with artists, min-concerts on the outside and have a few food trucks to feed you as well. Virgin Megastore closed in Los Angeles in 2007. Tower Records closed in 2006. Amoeba Records in LA recently relocated from its Sunset Blvd address to its new address at 6200 Hollywood Blvd.
Klamath Falls, OR | Record store brings retro spin on music to Klamath Falls: As he painted a wall in his store “Pac Man Yellow,” Jim Turner recalled the way he and his wife, Sarah, sit down at the end of a long day with some wine and a vinyl record playing music in their house. Throughout their 18 years of marriage, the couple has collected records and memorabilia, with the dream that one day they would own their own record shop. “We love the romance of it,” he said. “It’s always been a passion of ours. I don’t know that we’d be much good at opening any other shop. And so we just said, well, let’s just see what the market’s like.” Turner said he prefers the sound of vinyl records, compared to their modern counterparts. “There’s a romance about music that you can really only get from listening to a song, one, all the way through to (the last) song and, two, reading the lyrics while you’re listening to it, looking at the pictures,” he said. “You have a relationship with artists when you listen on vinyl — you get to hear the whole story.”
Duluth, MN | Electric Fetus Says Duluth Location Is Closed Permanently: An iconic Minnesota record store announced Tuesday its Duluth location is permanently closed. The Electric Fetus’ up north location has been closed since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s been incredible to be a part of the very special Duluth community and music scene, and we have great and loyal customers who we will miss,” a statement from the record store said. “We thank you for your support and patronage.” In addition to the pandemic, the Electric Fetus cited a water main break, road construction and the “changing retail environment” as causes for the closure. “We’ve been struggling to get out of the red for several years now in Duluth and it’s just not realistic to make it work and have a successful location in the market…”
Salem, NH | Bull Moose denies closing NH store after workers disagreed with lifting mask rules: A New England record store chain and its employees are in the midst of a disagreement about the company’s decision to suddenly close a store and fire all the workers at that location. Employees of the Salem, New Hampshire, location of Bull Moose said Saturday that the closure and firings happened after the workers disagreed with a company decision to allow customers to stop wearing face coverings. Bull Moose said in a statement that its decision “had absolutely nothing to do with masks or face coverings for employees or customers.” The statement also said the company was “not able to share the reasons behind our decisions regarding the Salem store as it is important to us to protect the confidentiality of our former employees.”
Newark, DE | Rainbow Records: Newark businesses optimistic as COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed: …Rainbow Records co-owner Todd Brewer said the business was not heavily impacted by the change in capacity restrictions. He said his store’s ability to get customers records through curbside pickup or delivery along with in-person sales allowed it to adapt to the pandemic. Cindi Brooks, whose family owns the National 5 & 10, said the capacity restrictions had not been an issue for her business either, as the store usually does not reach full capacity. Brooks is asking customers to wear masks until her staff is fully vaccinated. “At a minimum, we’re going to ask people to wear masks, probably through graduation weekend, because so many people will be coming through from so many different places,” said Brooks. “We expect to be a little busier than normal.” Brewer said Rainbow will also continue to require masks, as he wants to keep the record store a friendly environment for children and people who are not vaccinated.
Plymouth, UK | ‘Camden-style’ record shop opens on the Barbican in The House That Jack Built: The quirky new store is a Stairway to Heaven for music lovers; you won’t Want To Miss a Thing. An awesome new record shop has been opened by a former school teacher on the Barbican, offering everything from pre-loved records to enviable turntables. The quirky new store is a Stairway to Heaven for music lovers, and you’ll be more than a Day Tripper surfing the shelves for Satisfaction. Jenny Cleverley opened The Music Cave in The House That Jack Built on April 12, and said there was a gap in the market for a Camden or Brighton-style record shop right here in Plymouth. The vinyl boss said: “It’s something we’d always considered and we thought it was something that was a bit lacking in Plymouth. “I’m originally from Brighton and the look of The Music Cave is what I’d imagine a Brighton or Camden shop to be like. It was a case of filling a gap in the market and also being quite excited about promoting music.
Redwood City, CA | Redwood City’s Record Man considers next moves after a more than 30-year career: ‘We’re lucky to be standing’ After 30 years in business, Gary Saxon, locally known as the Record Man and owner of the eponymous shop, is considering his next business steps following a structure fire and faced with an expiring lease. “You’re challenged and when you are you rise to the challenge,” Saxon said. “We’re still here and quite frankly we’re lucky to be standing.” In the early morning of May 5, Saxon was awakened by a call informing the music man of what officials later described as a “suspicious” fire scorching his record shop. Saxon said he benefited from being so close to the fire department, having been told the entire shop would have fallen if allowed to burn an additional 15 minutes. …The loss has been devastating and one from which he’ll likely never recover, Saxon said. They were collected over decades and restoring the damaged records would be costly and time consuming.
Penticton, CA | Women In Business: A tribute to Penticton’s grooviest businesswoman: LeAnne Jakubeit was a woman to be celebrated. As the founder of Grooveyard Records, she made the funky downtown music store a pivotal part of the Penticton community for over 30 years. She was a role model to many girls and women and a constant supporter of youth and the arts. Sadly, she died in November 2020 following a courageous battle with cancer. LeAnne was courageous throughout her life, starting The Grooveyard in a leap of faith as a single mother of two kids. According to her husband Andrew Jakubeit, former Penticton mayor and co-owner of Grooveyard, LeAnne loved music and she loved people. “She had a passion for young people and giving them opportunities and experiences. Back when the store was in a larger location, one or two Fridays a month, we would move all the fixtures to one side and have bands come play in the store… That way kids would have a chance to hear live music and local bands could have a venue to perform.”
Greenock, UK | Oak Mall to host record and CD fair: The Oak Mall will be turned into a haven for music fans as the record and CD fair returns to town next month. Chris Pleasance, of organisers Allander Record Fairs, said: “We are looking forward to coming back to Greenock again. “People look for all kinds of records, but vinyl is big. “Some of our records have sold for £2,000 over the years.” There will be works from the 1950s onwards, with everything from rock to punk and folk to jazz. The Greenock Record and CD fair, which includes films and music DVDs will run on Friday June 4 and Saturday June 5 from 10am to 4pm. Allander Records are offering a £50 voucher for the upcoming fair, with £25 for the runner up. All you have to do is tell us who is the lead singer of The Rolling Stones.
