McMinnville, OR | Flat Foot Records celebrates official ribbon cutting in downtown McMinnville: Flat Foot Records officially cut the ribbon Thursday morning with the McMinnville-Warren County Chamber of Commerce. The record store, located at 102 W. Main St. in downtown McMinnville, opened in October and has been serving up LPs, CDs and cassettes to local music lovers ever since. …Chamber of Commerce President Jennifer Woods welcomed ceremony attendants and introduced Flat Foot Records as the newest chamber member and thanked the owners for their continued investment in the community. “Local business owners like Matt and Anna help McMinnville be a vibrant and welcoming place to live, work and visit,” Woods said. “Their passion, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit are truly appreciated.”
Los Angeles, CA | Free record shop for LA fire survivors to celebrate grand opening: A new free record shop for survivors of last year’s Eaton and Palisades fires is celebrating with a grand opening party Saturday night. After losing his home in the Eaton Fire, Brandon Jay founded Altadena Musicians to get instruments back into the hands of musicians who lost their gear in fires. Now he’s doing that with vinyl records, too. “We want to be here to help replace those items and support music in people’s lives that can’t necessarily afford it right now because they’re saving all their pennies just to live and also just to rebuild their homes,” Jay told LAist. Jay says they’ve seen roughly 3,000 records donated so far. Now they have a dedicated space on Lincoln Avenue where fire survivors can sign up for time slots and shop for up to 10 records a month.
Memphis, TN | Joe’s Records drops the needle on new Memphis store: The wait is over for music lovers in the Mid-South. Joe’s Records officially opened its doors Friday at Wolfchase Galleria, welcoming its first customers and dropping the needle on its newest chapter in Memphis. The store marks just the third location for the independent record chain and its first shop outside of Missouri. Owner Joe Smith told WREG earlier this year that Memphis stood out after he spent time scouting malls throughout the Mid-South and Midwest. “We like Memphis big time as a market,” Smith said. “There’s several really good record stores down there that are awesome, but per capita Memphis, I was surprised there is not more independent record stores, and we think there is a real opportunity, especially on the east side of Memphis in the Germantown area.”
Rainford, UK | Sunflower Records set up a store at Inglenook Farm Rainford: A new record shop is opening its doors at a village venue to vinyl enthusiasts. Sunflower Records will welcome customers on Saturday, June 6, at Inglenook Farm in Rainford, offering a curated mix of new and pre-loved vinyl. The shop is the brainchild of 53-year-old Rainford resident Paul Clark, who launched the business online in November 2025 after taking voluntary redundancy from his job as a lecturer. In addition to the physical shop, Mr Clark has been selling vinyl online and at record fairs across the region. He believes the farm is the perfect setting for the business, not just because of its proximity to his home. Mr Clark said: “Given that one of the main products the farm grows is sunflowers, it seemed perfect for our venture.”
Isle of Wight, UK | Meet the people behind the Island record shop with thousands of different vinyl: Lifelong music devotees are behind the success of an Isle of Wight record shop, which hosts ‘in-store’ performances with Island bands. Andy Barding runs Triple A Records on St James’s Street, Newport with Jonathan Bacon, who is best-known on the Island as a councillor. The business started in Scarrots Lane in 2019 before moving to its current premises just off the High Street. Andy moved to the Island around ten years ago, but had been coming to sell records in the regular fayre in Newport long before, bringing ‘a car full of boxes’. He said: “I’ve been a music fan since childhood. I used to be a journalist, I worked in regional newspapers and for the Daily Mirror, then NME and stints at Melody Maker, Uncut and Record Collector. “I love it all. I get to play with records all of the time…”
Kuala Lumpur, MY | SputnikRekordz: a vinyl lover’s paradise in Pasar Besar TTDI. The store’s collection includes The Beatles and Bee Gees to P Ramlee, Saloma, Sudirman, Sheila Majid, Alleycats and more. A wet market is probably the last place one would expect to find a charming vinyl record store – but that is exactly what awaits at Pasar Besar Taman Tun Dr Ismail. Step inside SputnikRekordz and suddenly, the bustle of the market fades away. Shelves stacked with vinyl records line the space while a disco ball hangs overhead, casting a nostalgic glow. Founder and owner Naza Mohamad never wanted the store to be tucked inside a sleek shopping mall. Instead, he chose the wet market for its character and atmosphere. “When I started, a lot of people said, ‘Gila (crazy), you want to open a record store in a wet market? People come here to buy vegetables, not records’,” Naza told FMT Lifestyle.
Columbus, OH | Used Kids Records owner Greg Hall purchases Musicol: ‘And I think the people who have been around the music scene, particularly, see [Musicol] as a beacon, as a legacy institution here in Columbus.’ Used Kids Records owner Greg Hall said he heard through the grapevine about a year ago that Musicol—the long-running recording studio and vinyl pressing plant located in North Linden—might be available for purchase. “And it’s such a natural extension of what we do here,” said Hall, who saw in the Musicol-Used Kids pairing the ability to have a hand in every step of getting a vinyl LP into the hand of a listener, from recording to production to retail. “It’s the old business idea where you talk about the gold prospectors going out West back in the day, and the guys that really made the money were the ones who owned the hardware stores and sold shovels—not that I’m looking at crazy numbers in regards to making money.”
Manchester, UK | You can dig through stacks of retro vinyl at this huge record fair, returning to the Manchester location that hosted Jimi Hendrix & The Rolling Stones—what to expect, from family fun to merch mooching: The Mancunian public is very well-versed in digging through stacks and stacks of retro discs to find the perfect addition to a collection, and now there’s a record fair coming to town. Manchester is obviously a very musical city, and aside from the incredible gigs and festivals, plus increasing awards shows coming to the city, we have a pretty mean vinyl record and vintage scene. With a never-ending list of unique and historic record stores, the Mancunian public is very well-versed in digging through stacks and stacks of retro discs to find the perfect addition to a collection, or first buy to kick off the addiction—and now there’s a record fair coming to town…
Rhino announces Spirit of ’76 vinyl reissue campaign: Twenty-three albums will be available at select independent retailers. Fifty years ago, as the nation marked its Bicentennial, a legendary soundtrack was hitting turntables across the country. Now, as America prepares to celebrate its Semiquincentennial, Rhino announces its Spirit of ’76 summer vinyl reissue campaign. Launching July 17th, the campaign will roll out in weekly waves available exclusively at select independent retailers. The 23-album lineup spans the 1976 musical landscape, bringing together everything from Bootsy Collins and Black Sabbath to ZZ Top and Linda Ronstadt. The campaign touches on studio albums like Bad Company’s Run with the Pack and Chicago’s X, alongside essential hits collections from Jethro Tull and the Monkees.
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