Stroudsburg, PA | Vinyl records turning profits in 2021: What’s old is new again and vinyl record stores are seeing customers coming in for all kinds of music. Some of the greatest musical hits were first heard on vinyl. Oldies but goodies and today’s hits, you’ll find something to get your toes tapping inside Main Street Jukebox in Stroudsburg. “I saw he had Ike and Tina Turner online. I messaged him to come and pick it up,” said Scholl Hammer, Mount Bethel. This vinyl record store has been around for some time in the Poconos. Owner Tom LeFevre has experienced the ups and downs of the vinyl record industry. More recently, sales have been on the up and up. “Just over the last couple of years, vinyl has really started to take off more. Sales have just been getting better and better, which is a great thing,” said LeFevre.
Los Angeles, CA | Some of the Best Places to Pick Up Used Records in L.A.: Need to scratch that itch for old-fashioned vinyl? Here’s where the needle hits the groove. You Don’t Have to be a Nick Hornby-style audiophile to collect vinyl—these days a lot of folks are rediscovering the joys of record albums (mostly as wall decoration, but still). The Record Parlour (6408 Selma Ave.) looks a bit like the store in Hornby’s High Fidelity, complete with racks of old wood packing crates stuffed with albums (punk, jazz, and folk are big sellers) as well as historic concert posters lining the walls. All it’s missing is Jack Black crooning Marvin Gaye. Another store with classic record shop ambiance is Freakbeat in Sherman Oaks (13616 Ventura Blvd.), which prides itself on an “old-fashioned” approach to reselling albums, keeping the prices “fair and cheap,” according to owner Bob Say. (Translation: most are $15 or less, and there’s always a rack of 99-cent specials.) But Freakbeat also offers expensive rarities like the 1994 promo copy of Prince’s The Black Album that recently sold for $499.
Isle of Man | New shop for Island record store: Sound Records relocates to Wellington Street. An island record store is opening its new shop today. Sound Records, which had been located in the basement of the former Peter Luis building, has moved to Wellington Street. The new shop beside M&S will be open Tuesday to Saturday, 10-4. In a social media post, the team behind the shop has thanked its customers for the part they’ve played in building a community.
Stirling, UK | TOP OF THE PAWPS: Squirrel invades Scots record shop store leaving staff in a spin: Record shop staff were left in a spin for nearly three hours after a squirrel invaded their store. The rodent gave shoppers at Europa Music, in Stirling, the runaround after sneaking into the store on Monday morning. Staff, customers and even dogs were roped in to wrangle the rampant rodent, who shop owner Ewen Duncan dubbed ‘Simon’, with Holly the Tibetan terrier eventually helping to spot the pest. The critter was eventually cornered by a customer using a box and an LP shortly before 12pm on Monday bringing the shop’s walk on the wild side to a close. Europa worker Paul Steadman said: “One of the customers threw a box over it and blocked it in with a 12-inch album. “I’d love to say it was an Alvin and the Chipmunks LP but I’d be lying. “We took it outside and released it into the street at which point Holly chased it off.” [Big news day. —Ed.]
Celt Iwan’s fresh identity for Sain, the iconic record label for Welsh language music: London-based designer Celt Iwan is behind the brand refresh for Sain, an iconic record label for Welsh language music, founded in 1969. The brief was to “celebrate its illustrious heritage while looking forward to a new age of music.” Just like many other small record labels in recent years, Sain has suffered from the streaming-boom and fierce competition from tech giants such as Spotify and Apple. But it luckily has a niche, finding success in Welsh language music. On much stabler ground than others in the industry, Sain wanted to strengthen its brand moving forward. It appointed Celt who crafted a new logo that reimagines the iteration from its 1975 branding, which evokes a vinyl record, split up to suggest the letter ‘S’. Celt added ‘sound-wave’ patterns to reinforce the musical core of the brand and applied colours inspired by classic albums from the company.
