After a few months of delay, Vinyl Frontier is ready open their doors at 51 East Gay Street this Saturday. The new record shop with the “gothic apocalypse” decor has devoted their extra time pre-opening to building up their inventory of vintage and used vinyl while their landlord resolved issues with the historic building renovation.
“The delay has taken a toll but it has given us time to develop a fuller concept, so I think it’s made us a better store in the end,” says store owner Justin Crockett. “We have somewhere between 60 and 80 thousand records in our basement and will have around 20 thousand out for sale come Saturday.”
Crockett has spent the summer procuring collections from everywhere between Milwaukee and Pittsburgh to launch the new store. Music styles range from rock to hip hop to blues to jazz to techno. Additionally, Vinyl Frontier will sell limited edition concert posters, vintage instruments, messenger bags, art photography books and other music memorabilia.
“To start we’ll only be selling used and vintage records, but we’ll be adding some new vinyl starting in November,” says Crockett. “My goal is too add around 100 new titles per month.”
Vinyl Frontier is also looking to sell local music on vinyl or CD with a 90/10 consignment deal where the store only keeps 10% of the sale amount.
“The 10% is just enough to help keep the lights on,” says Crockett. “We just want to have some dedicated space to give local acts a chance to get their music out there and sell it.”
The front entrance of the new store will also be devoted locally as a gallery space for Columbus artwork to be displayed on a quarterly basis. Other regular events include live music performances, DJ nights, trivia events and other types of entertainment.
This saturday’s grand opening will feature two bands and two DJs performing between 5pm and 11pm. Everything in store will be discounted at 10% off to celebrate their first day in business.
Once open, Vinyl Frontier will maintain regular store hours Monday through Thursday 11am to 7pm, Friday and Saturday 11am to 10pm and Sunday Noon to 5pm.
“We’re trying to stay open a little later on the weekends and keep the energy in the neighborhood up,” says Crockett. “We’re happy to be filling in one of the final holes here on Gay Street and hopefully it will continue to spread.”
More information about Vinyl Frontier can be found online on their Facebook Page or coming soon at www.jointherevolutions.com.
Photo of Justin Crockett by Chris Walker Photography. In-store photos by Walker Evans.