Cape Town, ZA | Cape Town shop The Other Records opens at new location: The space offers books, gear and merchandise alongside a wide vinyl selection. Cape Town collective The Other have moved their record store to a new location. Formerly based in Observatory, The Other Records now sits in the more central Gardens neighbourhood. It opened earlier this month as part of the new One Park development, which also features an eatery, listening bar and gallery space. From its earnest beginnings as a single table in a clothing store, The Other Records developed into a brick-and-mortar shop in Observatory in 2018. Often jokingly referred to as “the smallest record store in Africa,” it hosted regular in-stores, livestreams and off-the-cuff all-day events on Sundays, with crowds often spilling out onto the pavement outside. “Our in-store sessions were a vibe, but the vibe was mainly outside,” Philippus Johan, cofounder of The Other alongside Aaron Peters, told Resident Advisor. “Now our in-stores will finally be accurate!”
Washington, DC | These local record shops give you an analog break from a digital world: For decades, people who enjoyed music on vinyl records instead of CDs or MP3s were considered dinosaurs, moving at 33 RPM while the rest of the world rushed to go digital. Why waste money on a 12-inch piece of plastic when millions of songs — more than anyone could listen to in a lifetime — are just a click away? Now, more and more people are discovering, or rediscovering, the tactile pleasures of vinyl: The joy of sliding a favorite album out of its cover; the crackle of a needle just dropped into a groove; the careful way to pick up and flip a record when a side ends. Forget those stereotypes of hipsters clutching indie seven-inch singles or audiophiles droning on about the merits of 180-gram reissues. Last year, vinyl was the most popular format for physical album sales — 41.7 million sold! — since at least 1991, when data companies started keeping track. That might not be much compared with the 988.1 billion songs streamed in the same time period, but vinyl’s resurgence feels like a movement, rather than a moment.
Owensboro, KY | Still Going Strong: Money Tree finds success in books, comics, vinyl and more: With more than 50 years as a family-owned business in Owensboro, Money Tree Book and Music Exchange continues to provide a physical shopping experience in today’s digital age. Located at 1421 Triplett St., the store celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. “It started off as a consignment shop for clothes and things of that nature, and 50 years ago the owners saw an interest in people wanting books, and back then I imagine it was 8-tracks,” Manager Bill Fry said while standing behind the store’s counter. …At one time there two Money Tree stores in Owensboro, three in Louisville, two in Evansville, one in Henderson and one in New Albany. Today, the Owensboro-based chain operates its flagship Owensboro store as well as two locations in Louisville.
Cheyenne, WY | ‘Let’s go all in.’ Cheyenne used bookstore rebrands to Downtown Vinyl after years of growing music sales: On the surface, Don McKee’s decision to nearly completely revamp how he’s made his living for the past 16 years seems risky. But pay attention to consumer tendencies over that timeframe, and his recent choice to rebrand his shop in Cheyenne from Phoenix Books & Music to Downtown Vinyl becomes a much easier one to understand. McKee, the only owner and employee of his business on 1612 Capitol Ave. in downtown, held a soft opening of Downtown Vinyl on Monday to much fanfare, calling it one of the best sales days he’s had in 16 years. Influenced by the so-called “vinyl revival” — a resurgence of interest over the past decade-plus in vinyl records, resulting in the format surpassing CDs in physical sales last year — and its effect on why patrons were going to and buying things from his store, his shop has gradually shifted from one heavy on used book sales to one specializing in vinyl sales.
Bozeman, MT | Cactus Records to move into spot near Rook’s Games and More, Montana Science Center: Cactus Records & Gifts, a longtime downtown vinyl and gift shop, will be moving to its new home in February. The record shop has operated at its downtown location at 29 W. Main St. since 1985, said owner Mike “Bueno” Good. In August, the retail unit was put up for sale. The single unit in the downtown Hathhorn Building was listed at $1.8 million. As of Thursday, the sale was listed as “pending” on the McKenna Adams Commercial Realty website. Originally, Good looked to buy the downtown property but said the price was unfeasible. He spent about a month-and-a-half looking for a new location, he said. Options for commercial spaces that would fit Cactus Records’ needs were scarce. Good purchased a retail space at 2742 W. Main St., between the Montana Science Center and Rook’s Games, in the fall. The new location is about 3,000 square feet. That’s about 1,000 square feet smaller than their downtown location. “It looks bigger…”
Chicago, IL | Coop’s Records owner Ezell Cooper, South Side store owner and ‘jazzologist,’ dead at 89: Rick Wojcik, owner of the Dusty Groove record store, called him ‘a legend.’ He carried all musical genres, but his specialty was jazz. Ezell Cooper had a sign outside one of his record stores proclaiming “IF IT’S NOT AT COOP’S. . . IT’S NOT OUT!” He offered all kinds of records at Coop’s, but Mr. Cooper’s specialty earned him a nickname: “The Jazzologist.” Mr. Cooper, 89, who’d been in declining health, died Dec. 23 at Jesse Brown VA Center, according to his son Pierre Cooper. Long before people routinely found music via Spotify and Google, “People would come from all over town” to his stores to find the music they loved, his son said. “They’d go, ‘Doo-doo, doo-doo, doo-doo doo,’ and he’d say, ‘Oh, that’s Miles Davis’ ‘Kind of Blue.’ ” People waiting for a bus would come inside and get lost in the bins. “They would come in and buy music,” his son said, “and then they would miss the bus.”
Princeton, NJ | Tired of the Same Old Tunes? Try This “Princeton Perk”: Visit This Vinyl Music Mecca: Streaming services have made it easier than ever to listen to almost anything anywhere–as long as it fits the service’s algorithm. Next time you need new tunes, try going old school with some vinyl. The Princeton Record Exchange is a regional Mecca of vinyl music, from rare finds to new releases. Browsing their collection, you’ll see treats like The Soft Bulletin Companion ($35.99), a double LP collection of outtakes and alternate mixes from ‘90s psychedelic rockers the Flaming Lips, or the limited edition Steve Earle – Townes double LP ($25.99), which happens to includes one of the best covers of the classic country ballad “Pancho and Lefty.” Princeton Perks cardholders get 10 percent off all record exchanges. Don’t have a card yet? They’re available for sale for a limited time at princetonperks.com. The $30 card gets you discounts at more than 60 local shops and restaurants and is valid through the end of 2022. And all proceeds from card sales support Princeton’s public and charter schools.
Glasgow, UK | Remembering Glasgow’s lost iconic record store 23rd Precinct: It’s been over a decade since Glasgow lost the 23rd Precinct, as a new wave of digital music saw listeners choose virtual over vinyl. Bath Street’s infamous record store 23rd Precinct closed its doors in 2009, after the rise of iTunes and YouTube saw sales plummet. It wasn’t the only store that Glasgow lost, with Missing Records, Hades Records, and many others disappearing from the streets. After trading for more than 50 years at the time, 23rd Precinct was struggling to stay afloat – much like the rest of the record shops across the country Owner Billy Kiltie said it was too much of a romantic dream trying to keep a record shop going in the climate of the time. He said: “It’s a really sad day – 23rd has been an institution for many years. “The shop was here long before I took over and we still get customers telling us they came in during the 60s to buy rock and roll records. “People will struggle to get their hands on the music we sold now that we’re not around.”
Teddington, UK | Teddington Roan Records’ owner on why music-lovers are returning to Vinyl: Rob Palmer is the music-loving man behind Teddington’s new record shop Roan Records. The shop on Church Street has become something of a celebrity hotspot and is also the local centre of the worldwide Vinyl revival – a massive resurgence of interest in the formerly ‘old-fashioned’ records, with Abba and Adele topping the charts for purchases at the shop. Here, Rob shares the background to his dream of opening a record shop and tells Teddington Nub News why vinyl has such a special place in our hearts. Opening a vinyl record store, just under a year ago was looked on as a very brave move, but during a pandemic … and with all the lock-down restrictions and implications? It was viewed as completely insane. It is less of a gamble, when you consider that over five million vinyl records were sold in 2021, up by 8%., with those results on the back of fourteen consecutive years of growth. 2021 also saw vinyl outselling CD’s for the first time since 1987.
