Author Archives: TVD HQ

Ithaca, NY | Two businesses open new locations in Ithaca: Downtown Ithaca welcomed two new businesses this afternoon with an honorary ribbon cutting ceremony. Choice Words is looking to help organizations get grant funding. While Angry Mom Records will cater to music lovers of all kinds. …Choice Words wasn’t the only business cutting a ribbon today; Angry Mom Records is celebrating a new era in Ithaca. Following over a decade underground, the record store can now see the light of day from their new space in Autumn Leaves Used Books. “Well, we just moved up from the basement. We’ve been in the basement for 13 years. And we expanded into the second floor. Doubled our space,” said George Johnn Owner George Johnn shared music has always been a part of his life. As a teen he loved Punk Rock, but now that he is a business owner, Johnn has to comb through different sources to find the vinyl’s people crave.

Nottingham, UK | New record shop opens in Nottingham’s Sneinton Avenues: Running Circle Records offers a range of vinyl. A new record shop has opened in Nottingham’s Sneinton Avenues offering a range of vinyl. Running Circle Records has launched in Unit 46 on Freckingham Street near Bustler Market. The shop is not just a record shop but also a label, which is owned by Guohan Zeng and Tom Towle. The two are musicians and DJs based in Nottingham and this is their first retail shop. Running Circle is open from Thursday to Sunday and often features appearances from other local DJs who play in the unit. The shop also has online stores where vinyl fans can pick up new releases. Guohan said: “We started as an independent label which was co-founded by myself, Tom Towle and a couple of other friends in 2017. We started the label so we could release music for artists we were really into who were mostly from Nottingham. “Last year, we decided to take a different approach and saw the opportunity in Sneinton Market and thought it would be great to have a physical store so people could get to know us a bit.”

Plano, TX | Josey Records bringing old-school goods to Plano: Dallas-based Josey Records is opening its fifth location in Plano on Jan. 20, according to an Instagram post from the company. The store will be located at 6940 Coit Road and will offer various products from different decades, including vinyl records, posters, CDs, books, apparel and more. Josey Records has other locations in Dallas; Kansas City, Missouri; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Lubbock.

Kerala, IN | After ‘Chitram’, vinyl records to make a comeback in Mollywood through ‘Marakkar.’ Chitram, released in 1988, was the last movie to release their tracks on a long-playing record. Only when the record was safely back on the shelf did she turn to me and give a little smile. And every time, this thought hit me: It wasn’t a record she was handling. It was a fragile soul inside a glass bottle: Haruki Murakami in South of the Border, West of the Sun.With a sprawling collection of over 10,000 records, the Japanese novelist is perhaps the biggest brand ambassador of the vinyl record player. After a long hiatus, vinyl sales are seeing a resurgence globally and have now overtaken CDs. The warmer sound and the nostalgic feel that the vinyl helps imbibe is perhaps two of the likely reasons why music aficionados attest that one should hear from a vinyl to feel the soul of a song. Now, after over three decades, vinyl records are slated to make a comeback in the Malayalam film industry.

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Grand Rapids, MI | Record shop aims to help customers find gold: A new record shop looking to capture the magic of a growing musical medium found a fitting location in Eastown. Vinyl Alchemy is set to open this spring at 1505 Wealthy St. SE next to longtime neighborhood staple Yesterdog. “The best part is I can say, ‘next to Yesterdog,’ and everyone will know where it is,” said owner Kevin Romanyk. A pharmacist by trade, Romanyk said it is time for him to make the jump into entrepreneurship, and the 1,000-square-foot Eastown location provides the perfect setting. “I always thought it was strange there is not a record shop in Eastown,” Romanyk said. “It’s the right vibe, and I’ve been interested in opening a record shop, but I didn’t think such a perfect location would exist.” He said the spot is not huge, but record shops do not need to be large. The cozy, intimate store will provide a nice complementary business to others in the Eastown area.

Yakima, WA | Vinyl in Yakima! Sales are growing even though people don’t have players. It has got to be more than just the retro movement. Vinyl has come back in a big way. In fact, it’s reported by StereoGum.com that Vinyl has grown for the 17th straight year. Between new artists like Taylor Swift setting new records (pun intended) or classics released like Michael Jackson’s Thriller or The Beatles’ Abbey Road, vinyl is huge and is still growing! I just don’t get it. Sure I have a small record (aka VINYL) collection. Most of mine came from my father and grandfather. I can honestly say I have bought 2 Vinyl albums in the past 10 years. The Foo Fighter’s record store day album Medium Rare and the fantastic Northwest band, Cockaphonix’s debut album. That one made me laugh, mainly because of my interaction with a band member Chris Nobbs. It went something like this: Me: Can I buy a CD? Chris: Sorry, we don’t have CDs. We do have our album on vinyl! Me: Damn, the needle in my car turntable broke!

Blenheim, NZ | Jonny H achieves his vinyl dream: Jonny H has always wanted to start a pop-up record store, and now he is living his dream. “It has been a dream since I was a teenager; a Nelson record store owner said to me just do it, so I’ve been giving it a nudge since September.” The music fan said got his unique name playing in punk bands. Jonny H has always wanted to start a pop-up record store, and now he is living his dream. “It has been a dream since I was a teenager; a Nelson record store owner said to me just do it, so I’ve been giving it a nudge since September.” The music fan said got his unique name playing in punk bands. He is originally from Brisbane and has been in Blenheim eight years after meeting a local girl. Opening up a vinyl record pop-up store, Sub-urban Records, had not been without some pain, he said. That included having to sacrifice some of his personal albums.

Atascadero, CA | Traffic Records Suffers Flood Damage: The store reopened to the public on Sunday, Jan. 15. The local community came together during the storm on Monday, Jan. 9, due to flooding on Traffic Way. What started out as a typical stormy day, where many shop owners stayed home, turned into something else entirely when the businesses on the 5000 block of Traffic Way were notified of possible flooding. Specs by Kyla owner Kyla Skinner alerted the business owners on her block that the back parking lot was flooding and the water was flush with their doors via a group Instagram message. “It never even occurred to me that anything could be wrong, although it [the rain] was coming down pretty good,” stated Traffic Records owner Manuel Barba. Barba said that he ran down to his record shop to check on the possible flooding and was completely unprepared for what he found. He assumed he was stopping by to assess the potential for flooding. “I figured I might have to move a couple of things. I figured there’d be water at the back door,” Barba added. “I came into my store, which was entirely flooded from the front door to the back door.”

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Las Vegas, NV | Decades-old record store ‘Record City’ to close one of two valley locations: A record store that has been in business for over 30 years is saying goodbye to the Las Vegas valley. Record City Las Vegas says it will be closing the doors to its East Charleston location at the end of this month, which is one of two locations they have here in town. In a statement posted on Facebook, the shop says they couldn’t reach an agreement with the new landlords despite being in the location for 35 years. Despite the news, Record City will continue to operate its second location on East Sahara following the January 28th closure. Store manager Joey also penned a letter to customers, thanking them for their continued support over the years. The post also states that Joey will be relocating to the Sahara location.

New Westminster, CA | Have you been to New West’s ‘best-smelling’ record store? Here’s your one-stop shop for soap and rare vinyl records. If you ask Google Maps to take you to Relove Records, you will end up at a soap refill store in downtown New West. Much like a hidden speakeasy, the record store remains nestled at the back of The Refill Stop that houses a variety of products including essential oils, bath bombs and counter cleaners. “Whenever people come in, we always say that we have the best-smelling record store,” said Ken Wylie, founder of Relove Records, with a laugh. The record store occupies a small section of The Refill Stop along the back wall. Vinyls of Fleetwood Mac, Marvin Gaye and Frank Sinatra sit drenched in the smell of orange cocoa, menthol, and mulberry at the store. The collection of used records, curated by Wylie, is stored in wooden bins and shelves — also built by Wylie. A carpenter by day, Wylie works full-time in construction; his evenings, weekends, and 40-minute commute to work are spent in buying records and managing the store’s vinyl collection, he said.

Auckland, NZ | ‘One disaster after another!’ Real Groovy’s big move isn’t quite going to plan: The famous Auckland record store is once again on the move, making its biggest shift in decades. It’s expensive, difficult and entirely by choice. So why do it now? When Real Groovy was forced to move shops across Queen Street in 2016, Chris Hart wore a Fitbit. By midnight, the owner of the inner-city Auckland record shop had clocked 58,000 steps – the equivalent distance of running a full marathon, much of it including hill and stair climbs. Hart worked for another two hours, prepping his new store ready for opening day, then walked home. “I didn’t move much the next day,” admits the 66-year-old. Next week, he’s doing it all again. Real Groovy, Hart’s famed 40-year-old record store which has weathered the test of time and constantly changing economic conditions, will next week move to somewhere it’s never been before – off Queen Street and into the very centre of town.

Howell, MI | Vinyl record lover opens galaxy of great tunes to public with Howell shop: Aidyn Messerschmidt says vinyl albums have a warmth other formats don’t share, and he’s looking forward to sharing his love for the musical format with others. Messerschmidt, 21, recently opened the only full-time record store in Livingston County in the storefront where he previously ran a virtual reality arcade. Galaxy Records opened Jan. 7 with bins filled with vinyl records, a wall of Blu-rays and DVDs, and some CDs and video games at 4088 E. Grand River Ave. in the Country Corners mini-mall. “I’m a big music fan and it never ceases to amaze me how it touches people,” Messerschmidt said. “People like to talk about music and it brings them together.” Galaxy Records is open every day except Wednesdays. The county has one another record store, Old Homestead Record Store in Oceola Township, which is open a few hours a week, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays. “The record store will help people spare the drive to Ann Arbor or Lansing,” Messerschmidt said.

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Newcastle, UK | ‘No one’s fault’: Heartbreak as Newcastle record store famous for Sam Fender link forced to close: Beyond Vinyl has had many highs over the years, including that famous night when Sam Fender’s debut album dropped. As the clock turns midnight on Friday, September 13 in 2019, some of the first and keenest Geordie Sam Fender fans are queuing outside Beyond Vinyl in the Newcastle city centre. The independent store has cultivated a reputation as a gem of the Newcastle music scene but has had to take the “head over heart” decision to close. David McGovern opened Beyond Vinyl back in 2018 and despite five years filled with good memories, has been forced to move the store online as the cost of living bites. Remembering one of those highlights as the day Fender’s debut album Hypersonic Missiles came out. David said: “We approached Sam when the first album came out to do a signing and midnight opening, which he couldn’t make because of other commitments, but he was great.

Shropshire, UK | Record shop reopens at larger premises – and proves to be a hit with customers: The grand reopening of an independent record store has proven to be a smash hit. Saturday saw the grand reopening of Queen Street Records following a move to bigger and better premises. The store in Market Drayton moved up the road from number three Queen Street to 15A, a building four times the size of its first home. The building means the vinyl record store also now houses a cafe selling barista style coffee. Owner, Steve Ball, said re-opening day was a whirlwind. He said: “It was absolutely crazy, really busy. We’ve done a weeks’ trade in a day, it was absolutely non-stop!” Steve started the record business in lockdown, when it was a purely online venture. The business moved to number three in July 2021, but quickly outgrew the 18 square metre shop. Steve explained: “Our range just kept expanding and stock just kept growing, with customer demands the building had quickly served its purpose.”

Lancaster, PA | Longtime vinyl collectors open Etown Record Lounge in Elizabethtown: Selling a wide variety of vinyl records, Etown Record Lounge recently opened in downtown Elizabethtown. The record store at 9 S. Market St. operates out of a roughly 500-square-foot space where it has 2,000 to 3,000 records, including polka, jazz, classic rock, easy listening and death metal, among other genres. A lounge in a separate room has tables, chairs and couches, offering room for 20 to 25 people to browse and listen to music. Etown Record Lounge is owned by Ryan Reed and Tim Orth, who both have other jobs. Reed is a real estate agent in Elizabethtown with Realty ONE Group Unlimited and Orth owns Orth Plumbing in Mount Joy Township. Both vinyl collectors, the longtime friends conceived the idea for the record shop after discussing the idea over the course of three hours at Funk Brewing in Elizabethtown. Etown Record Lounge, which also buys records, takes a space previously occupied by the former Advocate newspaper.

Philadelphia, PA | This Couple Turned Their Engagement Photos Into an Excuse to Shop for Vinyl Records: They chose Long in the Tooth because it has a “stellar vibe.” We’ve waxed poetic about how pretty Philly is for all things wedding — but its restaurants and shops are pretty cool, too. This couple had the right idea when they took their engagement photos at a record store — Long in the Tooth in Rittenhouse, to be exact. M2 Photography snapped all the musical moments below. Their engagement-session approach: Because the couple enjoys checking out new-to-them record stores whenever they can (Cameron’s also a vinyl collector), they decided to use music as their starting point. They chose Long in the Tooth because they’d been there before and “thought it had a stellar vibe.” It’s also a short walk over to Rittenhouse Square and Delancey Street, where they wanted to snap additional portraits. “Including different aspects of the city was important to us,” says Abby.

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Music Consumption Rose 9% in 2022, As Catalog’s Share Jumped To 72%. Luminate’s analysis of music sales and consumption trends shows 2022 was another strong year for the music biz. Total album consumption in the U.S. (which combines album sales and the equivalent value of song streams and sales) jumped 9.2% to 974.9 million. That’s a couple of ticks higher than an 11.3% gain in 2021. U.S. on-demand audio streams hit the trillion mark for the first time ever in a single year in 2022, rising 12.1% to 1.1 trillion. Digital track sales continued their downward spiral, tumbling 25.1% to 151.9 million. And while total album sales (physical and digital) registered another year-over-year decline (-8.2% to 110.1 million) two vintage formats continued to rebound. Vinyl album sales grew 4.2% to 43.5 million, accounting for more than half of physical album sales and more than 40% of total album sales. Cassette sales are also in comeback mode although their contribution is far smaller, surging 28% to 440,000.

Buffalo, NY | Buffalo Next: Music store has downtown Niagara Falls singing a new tune: Daredevil Records opens in Niagara Falls. Jessica Berry cut the ribbon on her Daredevil Record Store & Listening Lounge in the former Tugby-Lennon building, 324 Niagara St., on Friday. The store sells new and used records, CDs, cassette tapes and vintage T-shirts, and buys used merchandise for cash or credit. Audio equipment scattered throughout the lounge allows customers to listen to music before they buy it. Retro Walkmans and Discmans are also available to use for a fee. “Generation Z, they never got the chance to experience that,” Berry said. Daredevil customers can kick back and relax in the lounge while sipping such musician-endorsed refreshments as Oakland Coffee from the band Green Day and Johnnie Ryan Moneybag soda from Gene Simmons. Berry received a City of Niagara Falls Minority and Women Business Enterprise grant for the project, which she said was instrumental in deciding to open the business.

Rochester, MN | Music community develops in ‘Hidden World.’ While Rochester’s Hidden World Vinyl Records obviously sells records, it also finds ways to engage and energize a local community concerned with creativity and humanity. Hidden World Vinyl Records takes its name from a 2006 album by a hardcore punk band from Toronto. While the hardcore band’s titled includes a not so polite word that begins with F, the local record shop seems to be hardcore about something that embodies the spirit of politeness — community. Appropriately, Hidden World is a bit off the beaten path. Located at 519 Second Ave. NW, Rochester, the local record store is in a neighborhood that mixes residential and commercial properties and butts up against the railroad. It has been open for the last three years with a few pandemic-related closures. While Hidden World obviously sells records, it also finds ways to engage and energize a local community concerned with creativity and humanity.

UK | Vinyl resurgence pulls HMV back from the brink: HMV has reported its highest profits since it was rescued out of administration in 2019. The resurgence of vinyl has driven a turnaround at HMV after the retailer bet on a comeback for records. HMV has reported its highest profits since it was rescued out of administration in 2019, boosted by surging sales at its stores. It comes after the retailer decided to move away from CDs and embrace vinyl under owner Doug Putman, a Canadian businessman who rescued the chain four years ago. HMV now stocks a range of exclusive pressings that cannot be found elsewhere and last September launched its own vinyl record label, signing its first new artist in 20 years. …Sales at Sunshine Records and Entertainment, which owns HMV and smaller chain Fopp, jumped from £90m to £150m in the 12 months to May 2022, accounts show. The jump helped it return to profit after a Covid-driven downturn the prior year. The company made a profit of £2m.

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