Cardiff, UK | Inside Diggers Club Records: Cardiff’s appointment-only record store: Two hours in import heaven. Open since April 2023, Diggers Club Records is one of the UK’s appointment-only record stores. Located in Windsor Place, Cardiff, the store offers customers a 2-hour slot, access to a Technics SL-1210 turntable and a huge collection of records to browse. “It’s a space where discovery and digging is encouraged,” explains owner Luke Pybus. “I always make the point of letting every person who walks through the doors know that this is a place where you can feel totally comfortable and I actively encourage building up big stacks of records next to your turntable and making a mess.” Pybus himself has been a crate-digger for “well over ten” years and started Diggers Club Records with a goal “to make the store [he’d] always wanted to find [himself]”. “The amount of times I’ve felt uncomfortable or awkward in record stores—when I’ve wanted to listen to something, or just check something out, has been crazy,” he says.
Los Angeles, CA | How L.A.’s oldest record store kept its groove: When digital music started taking over the world, Sandy Chase stuck to his guns. The introduction of the compact disc in the mid-1980s led the music industry away from the turntable and its time-tested technology — but Sandy always refused to stock anything but vinyl at his store, The Record Collector, across the street from Fairfax High School. “We are the oldest record establishment in L.A.,” Sandy said. “We’re the only one in the world that did not endorse digital formats. We refused to sell CDs; we wouldn’t take that money.” Today, Sandy is feeling very validated. For the first time in 39 years, vinyl records are outselling CDs. “Older people who got rid of their collections want them back, and younger people want them because they realize records sound better,” he said. “The harmonic information is infinite; when you turn it into a digital representation, you destroy it.”
Greensboro, NC | McKay’s moving to Mebane: The popular books and records store is making the move from Greensboro to Mebane. A popular used bookstore and record store in Greensboro is making the move to Mebane. McKay’s announced they were closing up shop on Battleground Avenue and preparing for their new destination in a Facebook post. The store said their new location will open in early 2024. “McKAY’s Greensboro is moving! Our new location in Mebane will open in early 2024. Visit www.mckaybooks.com/greensboro-move for more information, and keep following us here for updates!”
Redditch, UK | Redditch record shop to hold charity fundraiser for tenth birthday: Redditch independent retro record shop Vintage Trax will be celebrating its tenth anniversary with a charity event filled with music next Friday and Saturday, September 8 and 9.The vinyl venture was started in 2013 with a pop-up shop in the Kingfisher Centre. After trading in Headless Cross for six years, it relocated to Church Green East in August 2020. The celebration days will feature special giveaways and offers, while also raising cash for Cavell, based in Grosvenor House. Cavell supports UK nurses, midwives and healthcare assistants, working and retired who are suffering personal or financial hardship due to illness, disability, older age, domestic abuse and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. The six-hour celebration will start at 10am each day with light refreshments and cake available.
Lambertville, PA | Lambertville, New Hope a vintage vinyl lover’s paradise: You might feel like you know New Hope and Lambertville. However, these river towns are full of surprises. Maybe you are already familiar with Lambertville’s antique shops, galleries, and historic buildings and New Hope’s bustling outside bars and riverside promenade. However, you may not know that the towns are jam-packed with one of the decade’s hottest items: vintage vinyl. Whether you are a casual or an avid vinyl collector or do not even own a turntable, vintage vinyl shopping offers a day’s worth of adventure. The towns overflow with vinyl. “VINYL” appears on weathered wooden shop signs and easel chalkboards. It is stenciled on shop windows. But not all the vinyl is visible. It is tucked in bins beside vintage clothing, antiques, and collectibles. It is arranged in crates next to mid-century sound systems, behind stacks of rare books, and stored among rock and roll t-shirts. Vinyl spills onto the streets on days with low heat and humidity and plays in shops. Once you tune into the vinyl vibe in New Hope and Lambertville, it is hard not to notice how prolific vinyl is.
Brooklyn, NY | LegacyDUMBO, the Caribbean-Owned Vinyl Store that Feels like Home, Celebrates 2-Year Anniversary: This local vinyl store in DUMBO has hosted Rae Sremmurd, Mahalia, Metro Boomin, A Boogie, Yo Gotti, Glorilla and Ed Sheeran for meet-and-greets, and has appeared in Cadillac commercials and an Emmy Award-winning TV show — all in under two years. The interior of Caribbean-owned record shop LegacyDUMBO is reminiscent of a cool aunt’s house: Inviting, warm and covered in interesting art and music ephemera. This is by design. The co-owners of the store, a group of close friends, have curated the space with their eclectic aunts and grandmothers in mind, winning them loyal customers and celebrity fans. This week, the boutique is celebrating its second anniversary on Saturday, Sept. 2, with an all-day event at the store located at 247 Water St. “It was really just a deep love of music and bringing people together that made me want to open up Legacy,” Haile Ali, one of the three founders, told BK Reader. He co-founded the store with Victorious De Costa and Barkim Salgado.
Beacon, NY | Another Spin for The Vinyl Room: Beacon bar and record shop relocates on Main Street: There is one steadfast rule at The Vinyl Room in Beacon: The DJs must spin old-fashioned records, no software allowed. “The only exception would be for a supremely talented artist,” says co-owner John Kihlmire. After nearly a year getting things in order, Kihlmire and Kane Licari, childhood friends who played Little League together in Fishkill, opened the third incarnation of the cocktail bar, restaurant, record shop and arcade on Aug. 11 at 396 Main St. The next night, a disc jockey worked sets with 45-rpm vinyl records, known as “singles” back in the day. Typically, the DJs play “platters,” choosing from stacks of wax in racks that hover over the bar. One lazy Sunday afternoon, The Best of Sam Cooke took a spin on the house turntable. The records for sale are behind the front desk.
Ukiah, CA | A ‘pressing’ affair: Ukiah resident to exhibit locally produced vinyl record collection: Casey Thompson, a Ukiah native, began collecting vinyl when he was a freshman, in 1994. It’s taken a few years but now Thompson has a substantial collection and will be displaying a unique subsection of his albums at Medium Gallery this coming First Friday. The record display is a slice of local history – albums that were produced or recorded in the county, along with some artists who resided here. Thompson’s grandmother Lillian Knighton taught him the love of music. “Grandma had a lot of 45’s. She’d play me everything from David Saville and the Chipmunks and Andy Williams. She’d play the House of Bamboo and I’d go crazy,” he smiles. “She had cookie tins filled with 45’s. I ended up with her record player and began collecting.” What started as a passion grew into a side business. He owns somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000 albums and 5,000 45’s. He’s been attending record shows and selling vinyl for several years. The genesis of this show began simply.
AU | Crowdfunding and vinyl sale gives bFM boost: The headlines were jarring. Radio bFM was selling off part of its record collection to stay afloat. So how did it go? When 6,000 albums were laid out on the trestle tables on 19 August for the record fair at bFM, there was a little bit of sadness. But also, music lovers had to admit the sell-off hit the sweet spot between philanthropy and excitement at the prospect of getting their hands on some previously loved vinyl. All purchases from the vinyl sale went towards boosting the coffers of the radio station and the move was described as a ‘last resort’ by bFM general manager Tom Tremewan in August. But maybe bFM is just a super-smart marketer. As well as the record sale getting close to Tom’s optimistic target, the radion station’s Give-a-Little page has been going gangbusters following the publicity around bFM selling off some of its record collection.
