Romsey, UK | Romsey’s Hundred Records marks ten years with new owner: Romsey’s only record shop reached two milestones this autumn: it has a new owner and it has marked a decade in business. At 47 The Hundred, Hundred Records has a new owner after Mark Wills retired in October after ten years. Matt Foyle, 55, from Hedge End, told the Echo’s sister paper the Advertiser his friends called him “mad” when he chose to step in. Matt said: “Short story, although I’ll make it a long one, I’ve been a customer here for eight years. I came here to pick up some gear at the end of September and he [Mark] said ‘From the end of October the shop will be shutting’. “I went away, had a think and, within four weeks, I bought it.” Matt continued: “I didn’t want to see the place shut, nor did the rest of the customers.” The new owner had no prior experience in retail, having worked for 16 years in catering for a sandwich company.
El Cerrito, CA | Saving El Cerrito’s Down Home Music Store: The holidays brought glad tidings to El Cerrito’s Down Home Music Store after a looming threat that the legendary property might go up for sale and be taken over by the highest bidder. …Down Home had for years served as a shrine for Joel Selvin, longtime pop music critic and writer for the San Francisco Chronicle and the author of a 2023 book compiling Strachwitz’s musical travelogues and photographs. “Any time a new trend emerged and I needed to beef up my information, Down Home was the place I had to go to,” recounted Selvin. “They were always drivers in that culture, not just reflecting it. And Chris was the most admirable person I ever met in the record business because he remained closest to his original bliss.”
Northampton, MA | Couple relocates record store from Boston to Northampton: With an ever-changing retail landscape out in Boston, two record shop owners moved their store to Hampshire County after more than a decade out east. Western Mass News spoke with one owner of Deep Thoughts Record Shop on Market Street to learn what inspired her to reset in Northampton. After nearly 12 years in Boston, Alaina Stamatis and Nick Williams were eager to return to the Pioneer Valley. ”Staring down another winter of making that commute, that was a major motivating factor just being closer to home,” explained Stamatis, co-owner of Deep Thoughts Record Shop. And closer to home is where Stamatis, along with her husband, Williams, brought Deep Thoughts Record Shop. With Boston’s changing retail landscape and the pressure of raising a child, they relocated to Northampton in November. While Stamatis reflects on her positive experiences in Boston, she says this move was only a matter of time.
The Rebirth of The Record Store: Why Your Humble Local Music Shop Is Thriving Despite Streaming Sites Like Spotify. The way we listen to music has changed repeatedly over the past 40 years, moving from vinyl, to tape, to CD, and now digital. However, one thing has stayed constant and weathered the storm—the humble record store. Despite the majority of people now listening to their favorite artists via digital streaming services, there are still many record stores to be found in any city you visit. Despite the big music outlets closing by the day, the indie record store is still going strong. In 2023, vinyl outsold CDs for the second year in a row in the US. The year reported 34.9M sales, with a further increase of 6.2% in 2024. This signifies a massive comeback for vinyl sales, making the record store a valuable business venture for entrepreneurs looking to keep the industry alive.