April 22 marks the tenth annual Record Store Day (RSD), a national initiative to get audiophiles and casual music fans alike into mom-and-pop record stores, but there’s a lot to celebrate right now in the world of records. Vinyl has seen a huge resurgence in popularity over the past few years. According to Forbes, vinyl sales have grown by 260% since 2009. In 2017 alone vinyl sales are expected to gross over one billion dollars. The last time that record sales were this successful? 1981.
The East Side has three independently owned record shops, and interestingly enough the oldest record shop on the East Side abstains from the RSD movement. Round Again Records has been on Wickenden for 37 years, opening in 1979. Owner Steve Kotler says, “I don’t want to involve myself [with Record Store Day]. You see, the distributors make money that day. They’re all about getting people in, getting people out. They don’t understand that every day here is Record Store Day.” This is a sentiment shared by many when it comes to the novelty of RSD. The limited edition pressings are fun, but the focus should be on the store itself.
What Cheer on Angell Street got started in the 1990s by renting a booth at the This and That Shoppe on Wickenden, and after moving to Wayland Square for a time, they settled into their current Angell Street shop about five years ago. Owners Chris and Jennifer Daltry weigh in on how their business has survived: “While we’ve always sold records, we first started out as more of an antiques and vintage shop, later giving way more and more to records. We also started organizing an event in the mid-2000s called the Providence Rock and Roll Yard Sale. But this was well before vinyl records came back in style.” This ability to adapt and survive not just on records sales but also on vintage items has kept What Cheer afloat. Unfortunately, Chris and Jennifer have been having issues with their lease and are considering closing the nearly 20-year-old shop.
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