Photos and story by Megan Barton
With Record Store Day coming up on June 12, many stores are already taking orders and preparing for the celebration of all things needle and groove.
The event, which involves exclusive vinyl releases and sometimes live performances, will provide an opportunity for shops that suffered losses during lockdown.
However, not all stores will take part in the event, especially the smaller independent and secondhand outlets.
The city of Chester is home to a number of record stores that specifically cater for the music market, like Grey ‘n’ Pink Records and Up North Records, as well as several vintage shops that stock vinyl.
However, only one is involved with Record Store Day.
Up North Records owner Ronnie Moore says: “There’s a demand for it. It seems to be popular, and people like to own vinyl, it seems stupid not to do really.”
He continues: “Since we reopened after lockdown, we’ve now got a lot more younger customers who want vinyl. It’s a physical thing where you can hold the music in your hands.”
Staff at the long established Grey ‘n’ Pink records shop on Brook Street do not mark Record Day.
However, the shop has benefitted from the vinyl revival.
Hickman says: “For years we’ve had an increase in sales, with youngsters.”
Shop owner Mike Moran adds: “It never went away to be honest.”
“A lot of these shops have been around for a long time, this is 36 years’ worth of music collecting,” says Moran.
Cover image “Goes together like a record on a turntable… -[ HMM ]- >>Explored<<“ by Carbon Arc is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
