Edmonton, ON | Red Deer record store to open new location in Edmonton: A popular Red Deer record store is expanding to reach a whole new group of music lovers. Rock On Records, which is located at 4828 53 St. in Red Deer, recently announced it will open up a new store in Edmonton this August. “I’ve always thought about opening up another store,” said Vincent Molgat, Rock On Records owner. “The record store owner community is kind of small and we’re all friends. I’m up in Edmonton all the time to visit some of the other stores. There was ‘for lease’ sign right next to two of my favourite stores up here on White Ave. I wasn’t really looking to open a new store right away, but this location met the parameters for what I would be looking for.”
San Antonio, TX | San Antonio rallies to save iconic South Side record store: An outpouring of community support has put one of San Antonio’s most iconic vinyl shops back on deck. After being locked out of its longtime South Side home in May, Flip Side Record Parlor says it has paid all overdue rent and is now back open for business. Roman Cuellar, Flip Side’s owner, says he got behind on rent following a steep rent hike. Although he claimed he was making partial payments, the landlord locked him out of the 840 SW Military Dr. space in late May with an ultimatum to pay in full. “Right now, FSRP is going through an incredibly difficult financial crisis,” wrote Cuellar at the time.
New York, NY | Park Slope’s Fifth Avenue record shop spins its final track: After 58 years of flipping through crates and hunting for hidden gems, Fifth Avenue Record Shop in Park Slope has gone quiet. The longtime used vinyl, cassette and CD spot has closed, its storefront stripped and its interior gutted this week, closing the book on one of Brooklyn’s longest-running independent music shops. SI Live reports that the shop shut its doors this week and that the space has been emptied out, describing the business as a neighborhood fixture dating back to the 1960s. The outlet notes that the closure effectively erases a familiar landmark from the block. A brief write-up in Brooklyn Eagle echoes that sense of loss, saying the disappearance of the store leaves a noticeable gap along Fifth Avenue where the sign and stacks once drew in passersby.
Keene, NH | New Keene Record Store Brings Vinyl, Conversation, and Community Back To Main Street: A lifelong music lover is opening Dodo Music in downtown Keene, creating a space focused on vinyl, music discovery, and community. For Danny Kamps, opening a record store isn’t just about selling albums—it’s about recreating the experience that first made him fall in love with music. The Gilsum musician and former educator is opening Dodo Music at 20 Main St. (the entrance is next to Shadow and Soul Emporium and Tea Lounge) in a second-floor suite in downtown Keene on Saturday, offering new and used vinyl records, CDs and cassette tapes while hoping to revive the sense of discovery once found in independent music shops. Kamps traces that passion back to his teenage years growing up in Westmoreland, when trips to Turn It Up on Main Street became a regular part of his life.
Red Bank, NJ | I discovered the coolest music store in Monmouth County: Have you ever walked into a store and thought to yourself, “I could spend all of my money here”? It’s not a thought I have often, mainly because I’m incredibly frugal, but there are always exceptions. One of those exceptions was when I walked into the coolest music store near the Jersey Shore. …Located right off Main Street in Red Bank, you’ll find Jack’s Music Shop, and at first it just looks like your typical music store with records, CDs, and some posters, but the sheer amount is seriously overwhelming. But wait, there’s more! They also have a really fun collection of music-themed mugs, and more vinyl than I’ve seen in a long time. Keep in mind, what you see below is only a fraction of the vinyl records they have on display.
Burbank, CA | Record Store Spins Community Connection: You never know who you’ll meet when you visit a favorite community gathering space on Magnolia Boulevard like Run Out Groove Records—an independently owned, vinyl shop at the center of the retail neighborhood. “I come to Magnolia every week, at least once a week,” explained legendary comic Dana Gould. “This is my zone of comfort.” Gould is a regular at the store and, like a growing number of people, a vinyl enthusiast. “Generationally I like vinyl, but also it forces you to listen to the side. It’s sort of like a movie,” he said. “You’re here for this entire experience… It’s a whole journey and you kind of sink into it.” Ellen Rehak, who co-owns the store with her partner Jeff Ferguson, set out to make Run Out Groove a gathering place when they began four years ago.
Dallas, TX | Bringing the world to Dallas through vinyl: This downtown record store was a smash hit all summer, giving World Cup visitors unconventional souvenirs to take back to their home countries. Vibe check: A small sign outside the Joule Hotel’s Taschen Library indicates that the bookshop also sells records under the business name Record Dogo. The collection takes up just one wall, for now. A listening station off to the side lets buyers sample the records before buying them. State of play: Longtime collectors Dylan McGraw and Connor Fields launched Record Dogo earlier this year, curating nearly 1,000 records ranging in price from around $6 to $300. The records are sourced from South America, Nigeria, Japan and Europe—because the intent is to offer buyers a “curated niche of rarity,” McGraw tells Axios.
Long Beach, CA | Charli xcx visits Long Beach’s Fingerprints hours after album release: She’s the latest high-profile artist to make a stop at the iconic Long Beach record store. Charli xcx is visiting Fingerprints Music in Long Beach on Friday for two 30-minute Q&A sessions with ticketed fans for the release of her seventh studio album, “Music, Fashion, Film,” which dropped overnight. Rand Foster, owner of the record store on Atlantic Avenue, said they decided to schedule two sessions—one at 4 p.m. and another at 5 p.m.—in anticipation of public demand. Entry was tied strictly to preorders of an indie-exclusive “Yorkshire Smoke” vinyl pressing, capped at two copies per address.
Broken records get a second spin: A pilot project recycles vinyl records into new pressings while maintaining commercial audio quality. The initiative was led by Warner Music Group, GZ Media and Abbey Road Studios, UK. Although unsold inventory and obsolete records represent a potentially valuable material stream, this has previously been difficult to reintegrate into production due to variability in composition, manufacturing origin and processing history. The PVC used to make these records is also a source of emissions in vinyl manufacturing, making material recovery an attractive option. The project, Giving Vinyl a Second Life Without Compromising Sound, seeks to give these records a new lease of life.
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