Morrisville, PA | Falls Township stereo store adds 15,000-title Vinyl Lab: Since what’s old is new again, it has added 12,000 CDs to the mix as well. Audiolab Stereo & Video Center has expanded its store with the grand opening of Vinyl Lab, a full-scale record store located on the second floor of its Falls Township location on Lincoln Highway. The grand opening drew music lovers with featured live performances from local acts Ragtime Relics and The Rangers Nouveau Band. Guests also enjoyed face painting, raffles and giveaways, with prizes ranging from portable speakers to turntables. The newly opened Vinyl Lab offers a rotating collection of more than 15,000 vinyl records, 12,000 CDs and a wide selection of cassette tapes. The record store encourages music enthusiasts to reach out with special requests or to inquire about hard-to-find titles. The expansion was a no-brainer…
Beijing, CN | Q&A: How fRUITYSHOP Is Shaping China’s Vinyl Culture: fRUITYSHOP is an independently run Chinese record store with a branch in Beijing specialising in secondhand vinyl records, and a branch in Shanghai that stocks newer releases and electronic music. Founder Yaho Wang grew up in the 90s collecting records that were considered ‘rubbish’ (or 打口, dǎkǒu): unsold stock or rejected pressings that companies offloaded cheaply to China. Stores like fRUITY, first opening in 2012, helped build a fan base of collectors who valued digging and discovering hidden gems among these once-disposed-of records. Since opening the store has built its reputation with a Technics vinyl DJ mix series, and listening party for Pulp’s latest album release. Now, fRUITY has also founded its own indie and electronic record labels representing Chinese artists, helping them press, distribute their first vinyl releases.
Arlington, TX | Truth Vinyl back with larger venue: Flashback to 2020, when the world was plagued by COVID-19, virtually shutting down the entire world, and fear kept many people in their homes. Local businesses faced the loss of their entire clientele. One in three small businesses closed because of the pandemic. This was the reality the owners of Truth Vinyl faced five years ago when they were forced to close their doors to the public. But this closure was always meant to be temporary. On Feb. 27, 2025, Truth Vinyl reopened at 300 E. Division St. in Arlington, the venue’s newer and bigger location. Pandemic changed consumer behavior: Truth Vinyl’s retail sales and talent director Shelly Michele discussed her experience and fear when the pandemic first hit, saying “it was definitely difficult.” Michele said the pandemic changed people’s shopping behavior.
Largo, FL | The Book Rescuers: Largo business on mission to rehome books, build community. Three miles of shelving holding 200,000 items stretch across The Book Rescuers’ warehouse in Largo. Several decades of fiction and nonfiction titles, foreign language books, children’s books, audio books, comic books, DVDs, VHS tapes, vinyl records, board games, and puzzles fill aisle after aisle of shelves. Mystery, history, thrillers, chillers, science fiction, classics, cookbooks, romance, crime stories, and coffee table books are all part of an ever-changing inventory that’s constantly restocked, sold, and replaced. All of it’s been donated to this bookstore that rescues and rehomes books that would otherwise end up at the dump. It’s only right for a bookstore filled with all these titles and tales to have a story of its own.
Watford, UK | The LP Cafe, the Watford spot serving the ‘best coffee.’ A café in Watford has been described as “quirky” and serving the “best coffee” in town. The LP Café on The Parade, an independent record café that has become a hub for musicians in Watford, says the focus is on serving “speciality coffee, accompanied by a soundtrack of crackling pop, rock and jazz vinyl.” On the online review website Tripadvisor, The LP Café has 4.7 out of 5 rating from more than 45 reviews, with over 30 rated excellent. First established in 2013, The LP Café is said to be the perfect space for music lovers, with dozens of new and preloved vinyls to explore and a great range of drinks and food on offer. On the cafe’s website, they share that it’s “Watford’s Independent Record Café serving banging espresso and spinning the sound of Watford on vinyl.”
Budapest, HU | Budapest’s Independent Label Fair Returns with Record-Breaking Lineup and Vinyl Debuts: A day of music, rare finds, and industry insights is set to unfold on September 6, as the Independent Label Fair (ILF) returns to the House of Music Hungary for its ninth edition. The event, which has grown into Hungary’s largest celebration of independent music labels, will host a record-breaking 60 labels, offering concerts, a music market, panel discussions, and a vibrant afterparty by the Danube. Throughout the day, visitors can browse label stands featuring exclusive and hard-to-find releases — including collector’s items not available in stores—while enjoying live performances by acts such as Doktorhokashi, Hippikiller, New Fossils, CVRDWELL, Labek & Chrobak, Musica Moralia, and Kvrk. A highlight of the lineup is the return of Sun-Rot, reuniting on stage after their 2023 breakup. The group’s new vinyl release will also debut at the fair.
Numero Group Announces Hüsker Dü’s 1985: The Miracle Year, A Live 4 LP Boxset: Numero Group has announced the release of Hüsker Dü’s 1985: The Miracle Year, a live 4 LP box set, out November 7th. Witness the transcendent Minneapolis punk trio tearing into the most incendiary year of its existence, captured live on stage at First Avenue in perhaps the highest fidelity recordings of the band’s lauded SST era. 1985: The Miracle Year includes Beau Sorenson’s restoration of an entire January 30, 1985 set, plus 20 extra live tracks from the year’s touring schedule, and a deluxe booklet detailing twelve months of history-making Hüsker Dü. Along with today’s announcement, four songs from the box set are available to stream now. Titled Jan. 30, First Ave Pt. 2, the collection features “The Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill,” “I Apologize,” “If I Told You” and “Folklore.”
Memphis, TN | Memphis Record Pressing finds the right groove with automated packaging: Created in the birthplace of rock’n’roll, Memphis Record Pressing (MRP) launched in 2014 to meet the growing manufacturing demands of the vinyl record market. The venture was co-founded by Brandon Seavers, a lifelong musician who serves as the CEO of MRP. The Tennessee-based business aimed to modernize vinyl production by introducing new technologies to packaging and logistics, while preserving the core vinyl record pressing process. “We stumbled into a world where there was nothing new, there was very little automation, there was no new equipment, there was no new supply chain,” said Seavers, during an interview with WTWH Media’s The Downtime podcast. “We were reviving this industry from the dark ages.”
Time Traveler Records to Reissue Muse Catalog Masterpieces: Record producer and “Jazz Detective” Zev Feldman has launched his next endeavor, the archival label Time Traveler Recordings, with the Muse Master Edition Series, a run of masterpiece reissues from the historic Muse Records catalog. The series begins with the Oct. 17 release of three albums from the legendary label’s discography: drummer Roy Brooks’ seminal 1972 live album The Free Slave; pianist Kenny Barron’s 1973 work Sunset To Dawn; and Cosmos Nucleus, a rare and much sought-after 1976 recording from Panamanian tenor saxophonist Carlos Garnett (featuring a 20-year-old Kenny Kirkland on keys). Subsequent major releases are planned quarterly from artists such as Woody Shaw, João Donato, Clifford Jordan, Joe Chambers and more.
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