Entertainment Fans Revive DVDs and Vinyl Amid Streaming Fatigue: Amid a streaming backlash, entertainment enthusiasts are reviving physical media like DVDs, Blu-rays, and vinyl for ownership and permanence, countering subscription fatigue and content volatility. Sales are rising, driven by nostalgia, curation, and social media trends among Gen Z. This signals a hybrid future balancing digital and tangible formats. In an era dominated by digital convenience, a quiet rebellion is brewing among entertainment enthusiasts. Collectors are increasingly turning back to physical media—DVDs, Blu-rays, vinyl records, and even VHS tapes—not just for nostalgia, but as a hedge against the volatility of streaming platforms.
Morrisville, PA | Audiolab Adds Vinyl Lab Record Store: After a lifelong career in all things audio – starting as a 16-year-old kid working at Sam Goody—Dave Levitan is finally making good on his “parallel dream” of owning his own record store. The long-time Audiolab owner will officially open Vinyl Lab, a vinyl, CD and cassette tape hub featuring a diverse collection of more than 15,000 records, 12,000 CDs and numerous cassettes on Aug. 23, 2025 as part of a daylong grand opening that will also include manufacturer demonstrations, live music, food trucks, raffles and more. “Wherever I go, I to go to record stores,” said Levitan, who has owned Audiolab since 1997. “I love the vibe. I love the grittiness.” Since relocating the former 3,500-square-foot Audiolab from 492 Lincoln Highway in 2022 to its current 23,000-square-foot space at 925 Lincoln Highway, Levitan has been “bootstrapping” the reimagining of the space…
Pekin, IL | Pekin record store closing after almost 30 years: A Pekin record store that served the area for three decades will close down operations at the end of September. Tuesday, Sept. 30 will be the last day of operations for Co-Op Records of Pekin, Illinois, said owner Denny Smith in a Facebook post. He also said that, starting a few months ago, he was trying to sell the store, but within the last month, he had to make the hard decision to shut down. Co-Op Records has been open for 27 years, Smith said. However, the lease for the building expires in December, and Smith said he wasn’t comfortable doing another extension. Smith works a full-time job in Nashville, Tenn., as well as a music career with the band, “The Great Affairs.” He said part of the decision to sell the business comes from trying to balance that with running Co-Op Records.
Folsom, CA | Spinning nostalgia in a modern way: Fat Elephant Records opens in Historic Folsom. A store that revives the sights, sounds and even smells of music nostalgia, mixed with a modern-day flair, has opened in Folsom’s Historic District. Fat Elephant Records recently opened at 303 Riley Street; a sister store to a record store in Rancho Cordova, which has been open for about one year. One step inside Fat Elephant Records and those who grew up in the age before streaming existed, when one grappled with the impossible choice of which album to spend their allowance on, are instantly brought back in time to that familiar aroma: That mix of paper, cardboard, plastic and vinyl you only find in a classic record store. Then there are the endless rows of albums from virtually every music genre one could imagine: Stevie Wonder, Jefferson Starship, Def Leppard, Taylor Swift, etc.
Chattanooga, TN | At the Heart of Yellow Racket Records is Community: Ben VanderHart started his label and record shop to escape his corporate job. Now, he’s helping Chattanooga, Tennessee’s music scene thrive. As I walk into Yellow Racket Records at 2311 E. Main Street in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Destroyer is playing over the loudspeakers. Ben VanderHart, the founder and creative director of the store, is sitting at a table in the Listening Room, a space situated in the next room over from the main store area, where listening parties and live shows take place. …VanderHart originally started Yellow Racket in 2018 as a label. At the time, VanderHart was working in the logistics industry, doing proposal management. “I started thinking, what’s the outcome if I do good at my job here? Who am I really impacting?”
Casper, WY | For the record: Sonic Rainbow still rocking Casper music scene after 30 years. Casper had all the ingredients to be an unlikely hotbed for punk music in the mid-1990s. The blue-collar town energy was slowly crawling back from the devastating closure of the Amoco refinery in 1991, while urban ruins and vacant buildings dotted downtown and its surrounding area. Those old warehouses and other spaces made perfect makeshift venues for the myriad of noisy punk bands formed by disaffected and bored youth looking for an outlet and common bonds. “When Sonic Rainbow started, it was perfect timing, because there was an underground punk scene that was happening in Casper,” owner Jude Carino said. “The first two kids who walked in had skateboards.” …“We wanted more music,” he said.
Macon, GA | Taylor Swift’s new album to be available in Macon record store, pending release date: A new Taylor Swift album means excited fans and opportunities for local record stores alike. Taylor Swift announced the release of her 12th studio album “The Life of Showgirl” on Tuesday morning. As this announcement comes, fans are excited, but a new album also means opportunities for local record stores. William Rutledge, co-owner of Fresh Produce Records in Macon says that they plan to sell this new album. On her website, Swift has vinyl records, CDs, and cassette tapes available for this new album. Rutledge says that they will sell “everything we have access to.” Rutledge says that they are unsure about any events around the new album, since Swift hasn’t given a date for the album release yet. He says they sell plenty of Swift’s albums, so continuing to sell the new ones keeps the local community happy.
Los Angeles, CA | ‘Freakier Friday’ Spotlights the ‘Perfect’ L.A. Record Parlour: Jamie Lee Curtis insisted on using Los Angeles to film Disney’s “Freakier Friday,” which gave a Hollywood favorite record store a moment in the spotlight. Pop into the Hollywood shop The Record Parlour on any given day, and you will probably run across the soundtrack to the cult aerobic ’80s film “Perfect” starring John Travolta and Jamie Lee Curtis. The intimate store has all the vibes vinyl heads crave: boxes upon boxes of vintage records, along with some new releases mixed into the neatly organized sections. It’s my go-to. I know I will always find something to scratch my collector itch among its copious piles. Just the other day, I was heading to my friend’s Diane Keaton-themed birthday party (yes, you read that right) and needed to find a gift that somehow would work for that… enter The Record Parlour and, low and behold, an original copy of the Looking for Mr. Goodbar soundtrack.
Kingston, UK | Kingston record store seeks donations to help host concerts in new nightlife venue: Kingston’s Banquet Records is seeking donations to help fund its buying of new sound equipment needed to host concerts at the new Circuit venue, which will be taking over the former PRYZM Kingston site. The way these donations can be made is through a Voluntary Venue Levy when purchasing concert tickets through Banquet Records. The levy allows ticket buyers to “pay a little bit extra on top of your gig ticket prices to go towards venue improvements”, says Banquet Records’ owner, Jon Tolley, but there is no obligation to do so. Tolley added: “We realise that not everyone can give that extra, but any money that is received the levy is ring fenced towards sound and lighting improvements each, and every donation helps us get through our wish list that little bit quicker.”
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